The Shy and the Knight
by VaverickDD
Summary: When six knights arrive in Ponyville from war, a new adventure for the Mane Six begins. This story takes place between Season 2 and Season 3.
1. The Arrival

Chapter 1

It was a bright early morning in the town of Ponyville. The sun was always brought up by the ruler of the land of Equestria, Princess Celestia, while her younger sister, Princess Luna brought down the moon from the night.

In the home of Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn who was a practitioner of magic, she slept in her library filled with books of magic. She rested her head on a couple of books on the desk she was reading before she fell asleep out of boredom late in the night. She tossed and turned her head, quietly groaning.

"Must continue research…" she said in her sleep. Without noticing, her horn began to glow, making a book from a high shelf glow as well. It slid away from the shelf, beginning to hover high above the snoozing unicorn. Suddenly her horn's glow began to fade. So did the book's glow that was hovering over her. It began to fall and bashed itself onto her head. She woke up in a cry of pain. "Ow!" she cried. She rubbed her head with her front legs. She opened her eyes and looked around. "Oh my, I must've dozed off last night." She let out a yawn and wiped her eyes. She made her horn glow, levitating the book that had fallen on her head back onto the high shelf. She used her magic to put away the other books that she had taken out to gain research from. "Well," she let out a happy sigh. "time to start a new day." She walked out of the library and headed upstairs.

In her room sleeping in a little basket was her research assistant, Spike. He was a purple baby dragon with green spikes from his head down to his tail.

"Aww, he's so cute when he sleeps…" She lightly tapped his head. "Spike, wake up. It's morning." she whispered.

He opened his eyes, and let out a wide yawn. "Good morning Twilight."

"I see you got some good sleep."

"Mmhmm. So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, we should go out for breakfast. How about that?"

"You can always count me in for that!" He quickly jumped onto her back. "Onward!" he shouted pointing to the door. But he didn't feel or see her moving.

She rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Spike… How many times do I have to tell you to not do that?"

"Oh, sorry." He laughed nervously and jumped off her back.

"That's better." She began to walk out of the room with Spike following her.

Later in the town, various colors and kinds of ponies were out clamoring with one another: earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi.

Twilight and Spike walked into the town seeing the citizens outside from their homes.

"Wow. It's always so busy here in Ponyville." Spike said.

"Yeah." Twilight replied. "But you get used to it soon enough."

They soon came across one of their closest friends, Applejack, pulling a large cart of apples into the town square.

Applejack was an earth pony, with a coat of orange and her mane and tail blonde. She always wore a light brown hat on her head. "Whew! This cart gets heavier and heavier every time I pull it into town." She continued to pull the cart, grunting quietly.

Twilight and Spike walked over to her. "Need any help there, Applejack?" Spike asked.

"Nah." she replied. "I'm almost there." She grunted louder, feeling her muscles strain. She then stopped, panting heavily. "Please help me…"

Twilight giggled. "Okay." She walked to the back of the cart and began to push, beginning to grunt quietly. With her help, the cart was able to be pulled easier by Applejack.

"Thanks for helpin' me there, Twilight." Applejack said. "My back was killin' me a mile before getting' here."

"You're welcome." Twilight said back.

"Hey Applejack, you mind if Twilight and I take a couple of apples?" asked Spike. "We were coming out to get some breakfast."

"Go ahead." Applejack replied with a smile. "I have plenty more for everypony else."

'Thanks!" He jumped into the cart, grabbed a couple of apples and took a big bite out of one, leaving huge teeth marks in the apple. "Here, have one too." He tossed the apple to her, seeing her eat it in one bite. "So are we going to do anything else today?" he asked, lying down on the pile of apples, eating another.

"Well, we're going to be heading to Fluttershy's place to practice some animal magic." Twilight replied. "She was kind enough to let us see her animals."

"You two go on ahead then." Applejack said. "I'll take care of the rest with this thing."

"Are you sure you can continue on without us?"

"I'll be fine. I'm as strong as my big brother. See ya'll later."

"See ya soon, Applejack." Spike said. He jumped off the cart, following Twilight out of town.

. . .

Out of the town of Ponyville, there was a house covered in plants and surrounded by trees and bushes. There lived a Pegasus pony named Fluttershy. She was a very beautiful pony; her coat was light yellow with her mane and tail long and pink. She showed kindness to everypony, including the animal friends she took care of around her home. But everypony knew she had a strong weakness. She was very shy, almost afraid of everything, even her own shadow.

She appeared outside from her home, dragging out a basket of vegetables, fruit, and fish. "Time for breakfast." she said. She gave the animals around her the food she brought for them: worms for the birds, fruits and vegetables for the omnivore animals, especially for her pet white bunny Angel, and fish for the beavers that live under her bridge. "You all go and fill yourself with energy for today." Her ear twitched, hearing a twig snap from behind her. She squealed quietly and fell on her back. She closed her eyes tightly.

"Fluttershy?" a familiar voice asked.

She opened her eyes and saw Twilight and Spike above her. "Oh… sorry Twilight..." she said. She rolled over and stood back up. "I'm glad you two could make it. I told the animals what you're going to do for today."

"We are grateful that you'll let us do some animal magic with them." Twilight said. "Shall we get started, Spike?" she asked, turning her head, but she doesn't see him by her side. "Spike…?"

"Hey! Let go!" Spike exclaimed.

Fluttershy and Twilight looked and saw Spike trying to take back a book from Fluttershy's bunny Angel. Spike took back the book, but ended up getting a kick in the shin by Angel. "Ow!" he shouted, grasping his leg.

"Angel, that's not very nice of you to do that." Fluttershy said.

Angel hopped back into his little house.

"FLUTTERSHY! FLUTTERSHY!" a voice screamed.

They all looked up and saw a blue Pegasus pony with rainbow streaks in her mane and tail flying straight down to them. But suddenly, the pony suddenly lost control of her wings. She began to fall down in spirals screaming. "Whoa! Whoa! WHOOAAA!" She dove into a tree, smashing into branches while coming down. "Ow! Ow! OW!" From the tree, she fell to the ground head first.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight cried with worry. She and Fluttershy rushed to aid their fallen companion. "Are you okay?!"

Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing her head. "Man, that has to be the worst crash I've had in months…" she said. She flapped her wings and stood up. "I think I'll be okay."

"Did you need anything from me?" Fluttershy asked.

She shook her head. "I just got word that everypony needs to come to the town square immediately. I think something big is going on."

"Oh really?" Twilight asked. "What is it?"

"I'm not quite sure, but we'll have to find out. Come on!" Rainbow Dash started to gallop off to Ponyville.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Fluttershy said, following her.

"Hey Spike," Twilight said. "could you watch over the animals for a while?"

"Huh? Why is it always me that has to watch over things for you?!" Spike protested.

"Please Spike?" she asked, showing him her puppy eyes.

He groaned quietly, unable to refuse the puppy eyes. "Oh alright…"

"Thank you Spike! We'll be back later!" she said smiling. She galloped off to follow the others.

When she was out of sight, he let out a depressing sigh.

. . .

After returning to the town, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy saw all of the ponies gathering in the town square in front of the mayor's building, clamoring with each other.

"Wow." Fluttershy spoke. "It must be a big thing."

"Of course it's a big thing." Rainbow Dash said. "Every time we have a gathering like this, it's always something big."

"Let's try to find out what's going on." Twilight suggested.

"Hey guys!" shouted a high voice.

They turned and saw a pink pony with a long, curly dark pink mane and tail hopping to them all hyper and happy. Following her were a unicorn pony with a coat of azure grey, and a mane and tail that was darkish purple and Applejack.

"Pinkie Pie! Rarity! Do you know what's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Nope! Not a thing!" Pinkie Pie replied, still hopping like mad.

"What could be so important right now?" Rarity asked. "I was in the middle of making a new costume for the Summer Ball next week."

"Oh, will ya stop complainin' for a minute please?" Applejack asked her in an annoyed tone. "I swear, you complain every time we have these meetings."

"Well that's because I work on things that are special and beautiful, my dear. What could it possibly be this time?"

"Well, if ya must know, some gals told me that a group of knights are comin' into our town to stay for a while."

Rarity heard the subject of the matter and formed a big smile on her face as well as developing sparkling eyes. "Did you say… knights…?"

"Uh… yeah…"

"I just adore knights! Their bravery, their strength, and ooh those handsome faces!" Rarity began to squeal with excitement.

"Knights? As in medieval knights?" Twilight asked

"Oh yes! I've been dying to meet one in my entire life! Mother used to tell me stories about brave knights who save helpless ladies in peril!" Rarity let out a happy sigh. "I've always dreamed of marrying a knight." Her eyes looked towards the town square. "Oh look! Here comes the mayor!"

Everypony looked to the building doors and saw the mayor walking out. "Good afternoon, my fellow citizens of Ponyville!" the mayor announced. "I have just received word from Princess Celestia that six knights are coming here to stay for a while as they travel to Canterlot! Let's all give a huge warm welcome to them when they arrive!"

The town was filled with loud cheers that could be heard from miles.

"Well, put me on a bull and call me crazy!" Applejack said. "If they need a place to rest, they could sleep at the empty barn back at my place!"

"That's a good idea!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh, I see what you're doing…" Rarity said glaring at Applejack. "You're trying to get the knights to yourself…"

She scoffed. "Like I would wanna mangle around with some sweaty stallions in rusty armor."

Rarity scoffed back. "Well I never!"

She walked through the crowd to the mayor. "Excuse me, ma'am? Could I make a suggestion?"

The mayor looked down at Applejack. "What is it?"

"I have an empty barn back at Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe we could let the knights stay there for rest. There's plenty of room."

"Hmmmm… Very well, you shall bring the knights to your barn."

"Yes ma'am!" she said, saluting to her.

Rainbow Dash flew up in the sky to look at the paths that connected with the town outside. Looking down, she saw a group of six ponies walking on a path coming closer to the entrance of the town. She smiled big and dove down back into the town square. She immediately stopped right above the ponies. "They're coming!" she cried.

All of the ponies quickly gathered around the entrance, creating a path to the mayor's building in the town square. They watched as they saw six knights walk onto the pavement of the town. The first five were handsome and looked adult aged. There was one of red, green, orange, yellow, and blue. The five had flowing clean manes and tails of different color, but their tails were wrapped in bandages. Each was carrying a sword on their sides with different forging styles. Each had a mark of a weapon on their flanks. The red had the mark of crossing swords, the green had the archer's bow, the yellow had the mace, the orange had the battle axe, and the blue had the lance. They looked around, seeing the mares and smiled at them. Many mares sighed deeply watching the knights walk past them, feeling love in their hearts. Some of the stallions who were in the crowd became jealous of the mares' loving attention towards the gallant visitors and began to mutter to themselves.

"They're so handsome, aren't they?" Rarity asked her friends, blushing brightly.

"I guess..." Fluttershy said, shrugging her head into her shoulders. "Too handsome if you ask me…."

Pinkie Pie suddenly squealed loudly, startling everyone.

"Jeez! What is it?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, breathing heavily.

"Look at the last one!" Pinkie Pie shouted, pointing out.

They all looked. So did the other mares who were watching the other knights. Behind the knights was another, galloping quietly with them. The knight looked much younger than the others, around the girls' ages. His coat was a light gray, and his mane and tail were blonde. His mane was cut short with a flat top, like a Trojan horse. His tail was also wrapped with bandages; the end of his tail was also flat. He too carried a sword on his side. On his flank, he bore a shield with a red cross as his mark. All of the mares suddenly locked their attention onto the young knight. To them, they thought that the knight looked very majestic and courageous. Some sighed deeply, some blushed. Some even fainted from the sight of him. Most of the mares began to instantly fall in love with the young knight.

"My stars…" Applejack said, mesmerized from the sight of him. "That has got to be the cleanest and nice looking knight I've ever seen…!"

Twilight giggled. "I have to say, he is pretty cute."

The young knight looked around in the crowd, seeing all the girls look at him with love and passion in their eyes. Some even waved their handkerchiefs to him. He smiled to them and bowed his head to them. He looked around more, but suddenly stopped his head. His eyes began to widen as he saw a yellow Pegasus pony with long flowing pink hair. He felt himself breathing heavily; his body temperature then began to rise. He then let out a quiet but heavy, passionate sigh.

Pinkie Pie saw his affectionate gaze, realizing who he was looking at. She turned, seeing her friend Fluttershy and giggled. "Hey Fluttershy, I think you have an admirer." she whispered.

She blushed lightly. "Really? Who?" She turned to the knights, and discovered that the youngest knight had his eyes locked on her. She blushed even more, and gave the knight a small nervous smile.

The knight could not keep his eyes away from the pony while walking. Not seeing where his was going, he tripped over a rock, letting out a quick yell. He tumbled over on the pavement, landing in a sitting position.

Fluttershy quietly gasped. "Oh dear…!" she exclaimed.

The other knights stopped walking. They looked back and saw their young comrade on the ground.

The young knight shook his head to get rid of the dizziness from the tumbling. He looked to the other knights and smiled nervously.

The blue knight who was walking in front of him shook his head lightly. "There's no time for fooling around." he said to the young knight. "Get back on your hooves and come along." He and the other knights continued to walk into the town.

"Yes sir…" the young knight quietly replied. He slowly got up and continued to follow them. He hung his head, knowing that he made a complete fool of himself in front of the other knights and everpony else around him.

"Aww, the poor thing…" Twilight said with pity in her tone. "That must've been really embarrassing…"

Rarity giggled. "I found it a little hilarious."

"Aw, shut yer yap, Rarity!" Applejack said, lightly snapping at her. "I'm gonna go on up ahead in case the mayor wants me to take them to my barn in a while." She quickly galloped off to the mayor's office.

"Ugh! Who does she think she is, talking to me like that?" Rarity thought, growling quietly.

"Rarity, what happened to him wasn't really funny." Rainbow Dash implied. "How would you like it if you were to fall into a puddle of mud in front of guys?"

She gasped. "I would be so embarrassed! I would just die, knowing I was covered in filth!"

"Well that's probably how that knight felt when he tripped in front of all of those ponies, right Fluttershy?" Twilight asked her. She didn't hear an answer from her. "Fluttershy?" she looked and saw that Fluttershy's head was lowered with some blush on her face. "Uh… Fluttershy…?" she asked again, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Eep!" She shrieked. She quickly turned to Twilight. "Yes…?"

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Fluttershy nodded. "I'm fine. But I feel so sorry for that knight that fell."

"I know how you feel, Fluttershy. I feel sorry for him too. There isn't much we can do for him now." she said, patting her back. "Let's go back to your place so that we can continue practicing magic."

"Okay…" she started to follow Twilight back to her home. She had a sudden thought of the young knight and blushed again. "I wonder what his name is…?" she thought in her head.

. . .

Later that day, Applejack took the knights to the empty barn in Sweet Apple Acres. She opened the large doors to let them in.

They looked around and saw that the barn was completely empty; nothing but hay on the floor and piles of more hay by the walls.

"Will this do, sir?" Applejack asked the red knight.

The red stallion turned to her. "This will do very well. We thank you for your generous hospitality."

"Shucks, ya'll are most welcome. We don't get many visitors here in Ponyville. Is there anythin' else I can do for ya before I leave you guys alone?"

"Well…"

Applejack heard a stomach growl. She heard the growling coming from the youngest knight's stomach. "I see you have a famished one in here. I can get a barrel of apples for you all to chow down on."

"That would be nice of you…" the young knight said, chuckling.

"Very well." the red knight said. "You may get some apples for us. But before you leave, shall we introduce ourselves to you, maiden?"

She laughed. "Oh alright then. I'm Applejack."

"Boys!" the red knight said.

They knights all lined up.

"I am Knighton." said the red knight.

"I am Llanfair." said the green knight.

"I am Penarth." said the yellow knight.

"Rhayader." said the orange knight.

"Tregaron." said the blue knight.

"Wow. I have never heard of such interestin' names." she. She looked to the youngest knight who was last in line. She walked up to him, seeing that he was a bit taller than her. "And what's your name, sugar cube?" she asked with a grin.

The young knight smiled. "My name is Yorkshire." he replied.

"It's very nice to meet y'all! I do hope y'all enjoy your stay here Ponyville. I'll be right back with them apples." She galloped out of the barn.

"Now then boys, unpack your things." Knighton said. The knights unbuckled their belts that were holding their swords, and dropped them onto the ground. "Claim a pile of hay to sleep on." The knights easily found their own piles of hay for them to rest on through the nights.

Yorkshire found a small pile of hay by a corner, but it was his size to be like a bed. He stood on the hay and lied down. He couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful Pegasus pony he saw in the crowd when he and the other knights were coming into the town. "My heart beats so fast…" he thought to himself. "There's something about her that makes her the most beautiful girl in all of Equestria." His heart began to beat faster and felt sweat flowing from his brows. "I sure hope I see her again tomorrow…"


	2. Search For the Timid One

Chapter 2

As a new morning began, the sun slowly rose over Sweet Apple Acres. A rooster cried out, calling the time of dawn.

In the old barn, the knights rested peacefully; nothing to disturb their slumber. Yorkshire opened his eyes, being the first to wake up. He yawned silently and quietly smacked his lips. He raised his head to look around. He saw that his older fellow knights were still heavily asleep. Penarth was sleeping on his back with his legs bent, standing in the air, his mouth open with his tongue hanging out. Of course, that is how he always slept after an hour of going to bed.

Yorkshire chuckled quietly. "Oh Penarth, you humorous fool..." He stood up from his pile of hay and walked off of it. He strapped his belt onto himself with his sword still attached and a carrying bag attached on the other side. He walked to the doors and quietly opened them. He went off outside ad closed the door behind him, leaving his comrades to rest longer. He felt his hooves feel the little moist dirt below them. He walked away from the barn ad looked around. He saw millions of trees around the farm all filled with red and green apples. "No wonder this place is called Sweet Apple Acres." he said to himself.

"Good mornin' there!" a familiar voice said behind him.

He jumped in surprise. He quickly pulled out his sword with his mouth, turned around and pointed the tip at whoever was behind him ready to fight. He saw that it was Applejack behind him.

She jumped back, freaking out seeing a sword pointing right at her. "Hey! Watch it with that thing!" she yelled.

He quickly calmed down and pulled the sword away from her. "I'm really sorry." he said, sheathing his sword. "I don't like being surprised like that."

"It's okay. You are a knight after all, and knights are always cautious." She walked to a tree where there were baskets sitting around it. She bucked the tree hard with her hind legs, making it shake. Apples were then falling into the baskets. "So what're ya doin' out here so early?" she asked curiously.

"I'm usually the first to wake up in the morning." he replied. "How about you? What're you doing out so early?"

She walked to another tree and bucked it, knocking the apples down to the baskets. "It's always been my job to knock down the apples from the trees in the mornin'." she said.

He looked around, seeing hundreds of trees everywhere. "You knock down ALL of these apples from ALL of these trees in one day…?"

She chuckled. "Of course not! I just knock down a number of apples for the market."

"Oh, I see." He chuckled as well. "I'm going to take a stroll through the town." He started to walk away, following the dirt road.

"Hey Yorkshire!" she called to him. He turned around to her. "Think fast!" She kicked an apple to him, making it fly at him.

He quickly opened his mouth and chomped on the apple whole.

"Hoooo-eeee! Nice catchin' there!" she yelled to him with a whoop.

"Thanks for the apple! I'll see you later!" he cried.

"Good-bye now! Don't pull out your sword to anyone else now, ya hear?!"

He laughed. "Yeah yeah, I know!" He again started to walk off onto the dirt road. During his walk, he looked around to see the beautiful sceneries around him. It began to remind him about the beauty of the Pegasus pony he saw before he made himself look like an idiot by tripping on nothing more than a measly rock. He sighed happily thinking more about her. "If only I could see her again… She has made my heart soar through the clouds…"

. . .

Later, he arrived in the town of Ponyville walking down the streets. He looked around seeing other ponies setting things up for the morning: flipping the OPEN signs on their shops' doors, pulling out carts of food and other products out onto the street for the market, and setting displays behind their shop windows.

"I wonder how busy this town gets when it comes to the morning?" he thought. He looked up, seeing a blue Pegasus pony flying swiftly through the sky moving the clouds away from the town, making sure that the day would be clear without any clouds in sight. He then heard a couple of giggles loudly coming from his left. He turned his head to the left seeing two ponies by a bread cart looking at him with lust and blushes on their faces. He smiled to them. "Good morning to you ladies." he said to them, passing by.

The ponies gasped and sighed deeply hearing his young, gentle voice. "Such a handsome knight…" one said.

"Much cuter than the other ones." the other whispered, giggling.

Yorkshire continued to stroll through the town until he stumbled onto a large shop called the Carousel Boutique. "This place seems intriguing." he thought. His curiosity got to him and entered the shop, making the bell above the door ring. Inside he discovered that it was a clothes shop. His eyes gazed upon beautifully designed dresses, suits, coats, etc. "Oh my goodness…!" he exclaimed. "Who makes all of this stuff?"

"That would be I." a soothing voice said.

He looked around but saw no one. He raised a brow with confusion on his face. "Anyone here?"

A curtain was pulled away revealing the owner of the shop. He saw a unicorn pony with a curled purple mane and tail.

"No one else but I, Rarity!" she cried, announcing herself dramatically with her eyes closed. She opened them and saw that it was one of the knights from yesterday. "Oh, it's you!" she said with a smile. "You're the one who tripped when you and the others were coming in."

He hung his head down and sighed. "Yeah, that was me… Thanks for reminding me of that embarrassment…" he said in a quiet, straight tone.

"Don't take it so hard, dear." she said sympathetically. "Everyone has their accidents. Is there anything I can do for a young knight like you Mister uh…"

"Yorkshire." he said. "The name is Yorkshire."

"Mr. Yorkshire then." she said with a smile. "My name is Rarity. Either call me Miss Rarity or just Rarity. Can I do anything for you?"

"I looked at the outside of your shop and I thought it would be quite nice to have a look inside. And when I came in, I was amazed at all of these fancy outfits that were made." he replied.

"Oh, why thank you! I did design all of these myself." she said showing him the rest of her creations of fashion.

"I could tell. A fine maiden like you could create wonders of art like this." he said.

She immediately blushed and tried to cover it. "Oh my… such words coming from a young stallion like you. Do you flirt with all the ladies like this?" she asked, giggling.

He laughed. "Nah, I just like to be nice to girls. That's all."

Calming down mentally, her blush faded away. "Well with words like that, you'll have girls begging to you to be their stallion."

"Well it's like that almost all the time with me and the other knights." he explained. "I get more girls liking me than the others surprisingly, and none of them really interest me."

"Oh really?" she asked with surprise. She then remembered something from the day before today. "But yesterday, there was something in your eyes. It looked like that you saw something that was very gracious to you."

He immediately blushed and had no attempt to hide it.

"Aha!" she exclaimed with a smirk. "You did see a lady that interested you!"

"Well… yes…" he replied, nodding slowly. "It was such innocent beauty that drove my eyes to gaze upon. Her deep ocean blue eyes glistening like a sapphire on a dragon's breast, her yellow coat bright as the sun on a peaceful spring day, and her mane…" He blushed more. "her long, flowing mane of pink…" He sighed happily thinking more about the Pegasus. "If only I were to see her again. My heart lusts for her!"

From hearing his description of the girl he saw, she had a sudden thought of who he was talking about.

"Fluttershy!" she cried.

He looked to her with surprise. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"That girl you saw was Fluttershy! She's a friend of mine!" she replied. "Oh, this is so romantic!" she said, blushing from the thought of Fluttershy and Yorkshire together as a couple. "The brave, young knight courting the shy girl with such grace..."

"Shy?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied with her blush fading. "Fluttershy is a very shy pony. Her voice is always so quiet. The poor thing gets scared from almost everything, even her own shadow."

"Even if she is all of what you described her to be, I must see her again. Please Rarity!" he begged. "Please tell me where I can find her!"

She looked to him and smiled. "I would love to help you." she said. "You can find Fluttershy at a cottage outside of town surrounded by trees and flowers. But let me warn you about something."

He gulped. "Is it bad…?"

"Oh no! I just want to warn about how you talk to her. With the words you speak so well with, she could never speak. She would be filled with confusion and anxiety. So talk to her with simple words. Talk to her normally, and don't try to improvise, alright?"

He understood and nodded. "Thank you so much Rarity! I am grateful for your assistance! Wish me luck!" he said as he galloped out of the store.

Rarity sighed happily. "Young love…" she said. She then sniffed the air and shuddered with little disgust. "Ugh… brave and young is one thing, but hygienic is another… He sure could use a breath mint."

. . .

Meanwhile at the library home of Twilight, she and Spike were getting ready to go out. She strapped two bags around her: one on each side. "Okay," she started. "we're going to get some ingredients for this experiment I'm working on. Spike, you got the list?" she asked him.

He lifted up a rolled sheet of paper. "Got it! It's right here!" he replied.

"Great. Let's go!" They walked through the door to outside.

"Which ingredient should we get first?" Spike asked looking at the list.

"Well let's try getting the-" She was suddenly cut off by a pony swiftly galloping past her. "What the-?!" She looked to see that the pony was the young knight that zipped past her.

"Sorry!" the young knight shouted.

"He should really watch where he's going." Spike thought.

"It looked like he was in a big hurry for something. But no matter, I'm sure it's none of our busi-"

"Twilight!" a voice shouted.

She and Spike looked seeing Pinkie Pie hopping excitedly towards them. "Hey Pinkie, what's going on?" Spike asked.

"Rainbow Dash and I are following that knight!" Pinkie Pie replied with a big smile. "We think he might be up to something!"

"Well it did look like he was in some sort of hurry." Twilight said. "But I don't think it's important for us to find out."

"Come on, Twilight." Spike said, tapping her shoulder. "Aren't you at least a little curious of what he might be doing?"

She sighed and nodded. "Why must curiosity always get to me...?" she asked herself. "Alright, we'll come with you guys."

"Yay!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, jumping higher. "This is going to be so much fun! Rainbow Dash! Go see where he went!"

"Got it!" Rainbow Dash replied. She swiftly flew up high in the sky. She stopped at above eight hundred feet and began to scope the perimeter. She the saw the knight galloping down the forest trail. She dived down back to the others. "Found him!" she cried. "He's on the forest trail now!"

"Let's get going!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "Rainbow Dash, you go get Rarity and Applejack if they're not so busy and catch up with us!"

She nodded and flew off.

Pinkie Pie quickly began running off with Twilight and Spike following from behind.

. . .

A little later, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Spike continued dashing through the forest trying to follow the night without being noticed.

"Hey Pinkie Pie?" Spike asked. "What gave you the idea of wanting to follow him?"

She laughed. "When he ran past me, he had this huge smile on his face like this!" she replied, showing them a big smile with all of her teeth showing. "He must've been very happy about something!"

"Huh, I ever expected knights to be very happy about anything." Spike thought.

"Don't be silly, Spike!" she replied with a giggle. "Anyone can be happy!"

They then heard hoof beats gallop quietly from behind but started to grow louder. Spike turned his head to see who was coming, but saw that it was Applejack catching up with them.

"Applejack! You came!" he said smiling.

"I never miss a round up with you gals!" Applejack said. "Rainbow Dash told me that ya'll are followin' Yorkshire, am I right?" she asked them.

"Yorkshire?" Twilight asked with wonder.

"That's the name of the knight we're all followin'." she replied.

"Oh, so that's his name!" Pinkie Pie said. "That's a cute name!"

"He left the barn a couple of hours ago to wander around town." Applejack explained.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie stopped, causing them to crash into her into a pile. She suddenly got up and shushed them. "There he is!" she whispered, pulling them behind a tree.

They all glanced from behind the tree seeing Yorkshire stopping to see the cottage that Rarity told him about. "This place is smaller than I thought." they heard him say. He then heard soft humming and singing echoing from the cottage. They looked to Yorkshire and saw him sigh deeply. "Such a beautiful voice…" they heard him speak again. They watched him walk closer to the cottage.

"Uh… gals?" Applejack asked. "Why is he goin' to Fluttershy's cottage?"

They suddenly heard wings flapping from above. They looked up and saw Rainbow Dash carefully putting down Rarity to the ground.

"Oh! Goodie goodie! You two are here!" Pinkie Pie happily said.

"Where did he go?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He's heading to Fluttershy's place for some reason." Twilight answered.

"Huh… why would he go there?"

Rarity scoffed quietly. "Because he's in love, that's why."

They all looked to her with surprised looks on their faces. "In love?!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Yes. He came into my store earlier today and described to me a beautiful girl he saw when he and the knights were coming into our town." she explained. "When he told me, I just knew that he was talking about Fluttershy. So I told him where he could find her and gave him some advice so that he doesn't make her more shy than ever." She let out a happy sigh. "Love is a beautiful thing, isn't it?"

"Wow…" Rainbow Dash said in much surprise. "A guy in love with the most timid pony in Ponyville…? Seriously… wow…"

Pinkie Pie giggled. "This should be good! Come on! Let's take a closer look!" She walked through the trees so that Yorkshire couldn't see her. The others followed.

Yorkshire followed the beautiful singing. He saw the pink haired, yellow coated Pegasus pony tending to small woodland animals. He watched her sing softly to the birds who were singing along with her. Her voice traveled through his ears, and he sighed more deeply.

"Okay Yorkshire… you can do this." he thought to himself. "Remember what Rarity said, talk normal to her." He slowly walked closer. As he came closer to her from behind, he felt his heart beating faster, knowing that he would finally meet the girl he loved in person. "Excuse me…?" he asked quietly.

"Hello there, can I help you with anyth-" She turned to see that it was the knight who saw her in the crowd. Her eyes widened with complete surprise and gasped quietly with her face turning red. "Oh my gosh! It's him!" she thought. "What should I do? What should I say?!" Her heart began to beat fast, seeing the young knight right in front of her.

He gave her a little smile. "Hello… Fluttershy…" he said with a blush.

"He knows my name!" Without warning, she fainted right in front of him.

"Fluttershy…?" he asked, tapping his hoof against her side. He then gulped with worry. "Uh-oh…" He then began to panic. "Oh jeez, what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?!" he thought out loud.

The girls and Spike watched him freak out from a close range behind a tree. Spike couldn't help but quietly snicker.

"Spike!" Twilight said to him in a little harsh tone. "This isn't funny! Poor guy…"

"Ha, you have to admit, that's pretty funny!" he said, snickering more.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Honestly Spike, laughin' at a guy who's tryin' to speak to a gal but ends up seein' her faint right in front of his hooves. Should we help him?"

"Goodness no!" Rarity replied desperately. "He must figure this out himself!"

Pinkie Pie looked at Yorkshire. "Hey! Look what he's doing!"

They all looked and saw Yorkshire quickly picking up a bucket by the river and scooped up some water. He brought it over to the Fluttershy who was still unconscious.

"Don't you dare, boy…" Applejack said, glaring at him from the distance. "Don't you dare…"

They then saw Yorkshire sprinkle a little water on Fluttershy's face.

Fluttershy felt drops of water fall on her face. She slowly began to wake up, opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry at first, but then began to clear up.

"Hey, Fluttershy... are you alright?" he asked with concern.

She looked up, seeing the young knight again. Her eyes widened and started to blush again. She started to gasp more.

"Oh, please don't faint again!" he begged.

"I-I-I'm sorry…." she quietly said to him blushing more. She began to take a few deep breaths. "I didn't expect to see you here…" She started to give him a little smile.

He smiled back and then looked at the house. "You have quite an intriguing house here."

"Thank you... I really enjoy living here with the animals."

"You're an animal lover?"

"Oh, very much. I take care of the animals that live here."

"That's very nice of you to do that. I love animals too."

"Really? I would never expect that from a knight."

"Oh?" he asked with a chuckle.

She nodded. "Say um…" she started blushing again. "would you like to uh… have some tea with me…?" she asked, nervously rubbing her front leg with the other.

He blushed as well and smiled. He then gently bowed to her. "It would be an honor to have tea with you." he replied.

She sighed heavily with relief and smiled. "Please tell me your name, fellow knight." she said. "I would like to know yours since you somehow know mine."

He cleared his throat. "My name is Yorkshire." he said.

She smiled. "Please come this way." she said, walking to her cottage.

The girls and Spike who were still hiding behind a tree watched Yorkshire follow Fluttershy into her house.

"Well I'll be!" Applejack said, smiling big. "It looks like things are gonna work out after all!"

"Who knew Fluttershy actually had it in her to do that!" Rainbow Dash said.

"She can be full of surprises once in a while." Twilight implied.

"Let's just hope she doesn't faint again." Spike said.

"I'm sure she'll do just fine, dear." said Rarity. "This will be the beginning step courtship. I hope Yorkshire takes it slowly and not too fast. I don't think Fluttershy can get into a relationship that quickly."

"Should we do something to help them?" Twilight asked.

"If any of the two ask for any tips or advice, give it to them." Rarity replied. "This kind of stuff takes time and patience. If things go well, we'll be seeing Fluttershy in a beautiful wedding dress eventually."

Spike laughed. "And Fluttershy's gonna faint just when the wedding starts."

They all giggled. They walked back to Ponyville together, leaving the Yorkshire and Fluttershy to spend some time together without being spied on.


	3. Here's A Good One

Chapter 3

Words could not describe how Yorkshire felt when the girl he was in love with invited him in her cottage for tea. She took him into a beautifully crafted room, filled with flowers and animals. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "You keep animals in here too?"

"Of course." Fluttershy replied. "I enjoy the animals' company in here."

Suddenly from under a table, a white bunny dashed out from underneath. It quickly climbed on top of Yorkshire's head and started to thump it repeatedly with one of its large feet. "Ow!" it heard him cry. It jumped off of his head and dashed upstairs.

"Oh Angel, that wasn't very nice." she said to the bunny from downstairs.

Yorkshire rubbed his head with the pain fading. "That bunny doesn't really seem to like me." he said.

"He's just not used to other ponies. You'll get used to him." she said. "You mind waiting in here while I go make some tea that is if uh… you're okay with that?" She gave him a little smile.

"I don't mind at all." he replied, smiling back.

She gulped and giggled nervously. She quickly dashed into her kitchen. "Oh my oh my oh my…" she said to herself while putting a kettle filled with water on the stove. She began to breathe heavily with her heart beating fast. "Come on Fluttershy… please calm down…" She started to breathe slowly and calm. "Why do I feel so tingly inside whenever I see him…?"

. . .

Meanwhile, back at the library, Twilight's friends bugged for a favor to use her magic. She didn't like the idea, but they kept tempting her to do it.

"Absolutely not!" she exclaimed in defense. "I will do no such thing!"

"Oh please Twilight?!" Pinkie Pie asked on her hind knees waving her forearms. "We're dying to know what's going on!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash said. "We're too excited to wait! Please Twilight, just one little peek!"

Twilight groaned. She knew that Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash weren't going to stop. "Fine, but just one little peek and then you have to get off my back about it, got it?"

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie said in unison, giving each other high-hooves.

"I hope things are going well with them." Rarity said.

"I… sort of do too honestly…" Twilight implied. "This is the first time I've ever used a divinity spell, so I'm going to need plenty of room." The girls moved away from her as she stood in the middle of the room. She closed her eyes and began to focus. Concentrating, her horn began to glow brightly. The light in the room started to dim as something glowed above. The mysterious light became bigger. The girls' eyes were widened and gasped in amazement. Twilight focused more to make the light grow bigger. In a sudden blinding flash, the light faded revealing a small orb of light glowing above her. She opened her eyes, looking up. "Wow… for my first try I did a pretty good job, didn't I?"

"Ya sure did!" Applejack replied.

Twilight lowered the orb until it was down to their heights. "Gather around ladies," she said. "and we shall see what goes on in the forest."

The girls gathered around the orb. The light from the orb started to fade showing a moving image. They all looked and saw that it was Fluttershy and Yorkshire sitting together having tea. They saw and heard Fluttershy giggle quietly.

"I have to admit, that is pretty funny." Fluttershy said. "Please tell me another."

"Okay!" Yorkshire said. "Why were the early days of history called the dark ages?"

"I don't know." she replied. "Why?"

"Because there were so many knights (nights)!"

The girls saw her laugh quietly. They couldn't help but giggle and laugh from the joke.

"That is funny." Rarity said, still laughing a bit.

Twilight giggled. "It looks like they're having a good time." she said.

"Ooh. I have a good one you might like." Fluttershy said to him. "What kind of flower grows on your face?"

They looked at Yorkshire seeing his face in a thinking pose. "I don't know." they heard him reply. "What?"

"Tulips." she replied, playfully puckering her lips.

They watched Yorkshire laugh with a big smile on his face. The girls snickered quietly from Fluttershy's well thought of joke. A few broke out in laughter.

"She got him good with that!" said Rainbow Dash, still laughing a little.

"Oh, this is truly wonderful!" Rarity said. "They're having such a good time together!"

"Hey uh… Yorkshire…?" Fluttershy said.

The girls quickly gathered around the orb once more.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Um… do you think uh…" She began to blush.

"It's okay Fluttershy. You can tell me."

"Do you think I'm pretty…?" she asked blushing more.

He smiled and moved closer to her. "Fluttershy, I think you're more than pretty." he replied. "I think you're beautiful."

She began to breathe deeply fanning herself with one of her wings trying to keep herself together. "B-b-beautiful…?"

He nodded. "When I saw you in the crowd, I knew that you were the most beautiful mare I've ever seen."

Watching the orb, the girls were all smiling and in awe.

"That is so sweet to say!" Twilight said. "Nopony's ever complimented her like that before."

"Seems like a first for Fluttershy." Applejack said.

"Yorkshire…" they heard Fluttershy say. "Do you like me…?"

"I've liked you ever since I saw you yesterday." he replied. "And I am glad to have met you."

His words traveled through her ears, filling her heart with delight and trust. She looked into his bright green eyes and could see happiness in herself. "What should I do now…?" she thought. "Should I tell him that I like him too? Should I kiss him? No! That would just be weird!" She began not to think straight. Love and anxiety started to easily stress out her physical strength. So many thoughts were flying around in her head. What could she do next? What could she say next?

Yorkshire couldn't stop looking at the Pegasus pony of beauty. At a quick glance, he looked to a clock that was above Fluttershy's door. His eyes widened. "Oh no!"

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I was supposed to meet up with Knighton and the others half an hour ago!" he replied in little panic. "I'm really sorry to end our little tea time like this! I had a nice time with you this morning! Hope we can do this again sometime! Thank you very much for today!" He lightly pecked her cheek with a kiss and quickly left.

Fluttershy's face suddenly was completely in red. She slowly touched her cheek that he kissed her on. "He… he kissed me…" Her heart was beating faster and her body heat rose. She let out a little smile before passing out on the couch.

"Oh my." Twilight said, seeing Fluttershy on the couch motionless. "Should we do something?"

"Let her be." Rarity replied. "She'll wake up in a while."

"Well, I guess that's enough for today." Twilight made her horn glow, making the orb fade until it was gone. The light in the room returned the moment the orb was gone. "We saw what we wanted to see."

"I'm glad to see her happy." Spike said. "Wouldn't want things to go wrong for the both of them."

"I think they make a lovely couple." said Rarity, giggling.

"We'll see soon enough, Rarity." Twilight said.

. . .

On the forest trail, Yorkshire galloped as fast as he could hoping not to miss a session of training with the other knights. "I can't believe I'm late for another session of training… again! Knighton's gonna kill me!" He arrived back to the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. He looked inside but the knights weren't there. "Aw jeez!" He smacked his face with his hoof and groaned in frustration. His ear suddenly twitched, hearing sounds of blunt clashes and metal ringing.

"Game point!" a distant voice shouted.

"That must be them!" he thought. He dashed away from the barn and followed the noises. "It must be coming through those trees!" He ran through a small forest of trees, seeing a small opening at the end of the woods. But he was suddenly tripped by a log that he did not see. He tumbled out of the trees, landing in a large clearing on the ground. "Yorkshire!" he heard from someone towards him. He opened his eyes and saw his fellow knights in armor standing above him. He slowly stood up groaning quietly in pain and shaking his head from the dizziness of the tumbling. "Sorry I'm late…" he said in a shameful tone. "I was… occupied."

"Occupied in what?" Penarth asked with a smile. "Getting lost in the unknown woods again?" He and the other knights except Knighton laughed.

"Seriously?!" Yorkshire asked with irritation. "I don't get lost all the time!"

"You should always stick with us, kiddo." Tregaron said. "You won't get lost with us around."

"Why do you guys keep treating me like I'm still the new guy?!" he yelled. "I've been a knight for over 2 years now! I can take care of myself!"

"Yeah, tell that to the dragon you ran into on the way here."

"Hey! Those dragons can get intimidating when angered enough, alright?! Besides, it was an accident!"

"That's enough, all of you." Knighton intervened, turning to the other knights. "Yorkshire has proved himself to be a worthy member of our team. He survived alongside with us fighting in the battle against the dark army. That is something worth respecting him of, if I do say so myself, right little brother?" He turned to Yorkshire, giving him a wink.

He nodded. "That's right!"

"Pfft! Whatever." Llanfair scoffed. "Come on Tregaron, we still have a practice match to finish!" He galloped back to the battle circle drawn on the ground, picking up a wooden sword with his mouth.

"I'm a point away from kicking your flank!" Tregaron replied, picking up a wooden sword as well.

The two knights continued to practice battle with each other as Penarth and Rhayader went over to them to watch.

"Knighton, I'm really sorry I'm late… again." Yorkshire said to his older brother, bowing to him in shame.

Knighton rolled his eyes and smiled. "Come on Yorkshire, don't do that. I'm not mad at you."

"You're not? Whew!"

"But you better have a good excuse for being late."

He cheeks turned a little light red and chuckled nervously. "Well uh… can we talk privately please? I don't want the others to make fun of my excuse."

Knighton laughed. "Oh alright." he replied. "Boys! Yorkshire and I will be right back in a while!"

"Okay!" Rhayader replied.

He and Yorkshire walked off while the others were continuing their practice.

"So, what is the excuse you want to tell me about?" Knighton started.

"Well, I was uh… with a girl…" Yorkshire replied quietly, blushing lightly.

"Oh-ho-ho, I see! Is this girl cute?"

"Oh Knighton, she is beyond cute! She's beautiful! Beautiful with a wonderful soft, peaceful voice. She's like an angel! An angel with wings." He let out a happy sigh. "The most wonderful girl I have ever seen and met."

"I'm assuming that she's a Pegasus pony, correct?" Knighton asked.

"She is a pony of true kindness. "Yorkshire replied. "She takes care of little animals, and she can tell pretty good jokes."

"Does this fair maiden have a name?"

"Of course she does! Her name is Fluttershy. I saw her when we were coming into town."

"Is that why you tripped on the road?"

"Don't remind me…"

"So, you have fallen in love." Knighton said, chuckling.

"Basically, yes."

He patted Yorkshire's shoulder. "Congratulations then. I hope to see this girl soon."

"Well, not now. We just met. Besides, I don't think she or I are comfortable to have you meet her yet. She can be very shy. She even fainted when she saw me again."

Knighton laughed. "A beautiful yet delicate flower you have discovered."

"Yes. I hope to see her again. Brother… are you alright with this? With me falling in love? Won't this remind you of-"

"Yes." Knighton interrupted. "Say no more. I know what you're going to ask." He sighed heavily with a small frown. "It's been a year since the tragic fate of… you know…"

"I'm really sorry Knighton…. But you can't blame yourself for what happened." Yorkshire said. "Who would expect soldiers of the dark army would attack there…?"

Knight nodded. "Yes…"

Yorkshire pressed himself gently against his older brother.

Knighton rubbed his head against his younger brother's. "You always know how to comfort me when I'm feeling down." he said smiling. "Thank you."

Yorkshire looked up and smiled back. "Let's go back to the others now. Maybe some training will clear your mind."

"Yes. You may be right. Want to take me on? I promise I won't go easy on you this time." he said with a grin.

His younger brother laughed. "You're on!"

. . .

Meanwhile, Fluttershy flew into Ponyville after waking up from her pass out when Yorkshire kissed her cheek. "Oh, this is so exciting. I have to tell everyone else about this." She landed in front of the library and knocked on the door.

"I'll get it!" Spike said from inside. He opened the door and saw that it was Fluttershy with a small smile. "Ah, Fluttershy! Come on in!"

"Thank you." she replied. She walked inside seeing her friends have big smiles on their faces. She felt puzzled, wondering what the occasion could be for having such happy faces. "Is something going on…?" she asked.

"Why no!" Rarity said, still smiling big. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well uh, it's just that you girls have such big smiles."

"Oh, this?" Rainbow Dash asked, showing her their smiles. "We're just really happy to see you."

Fluttershy smiled. "Girls, I might have something to tell you." She began to feel nervous giving them such excited news. She started to blush a bit. "I think I…" she muttered.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Twilight asked.

"I think I…" she muttered once again.

"Beg pardon?" Applejack asked.

Fluttershy then took a deep breath. "I think I'm in love!" she let out. She quickly covered her mouth with her hoof and blushed more.

The girls looked at each other. They suddenly shrieked with joy and excitement, causing Fluttershy to jump. They gathered around her and gave her hugs.

"That's wonderful news, Fluttershy!" Twilight exclaimed. "There's nothing to be ashamed of about being in love."

"Oh darling, we're going to have so many things to plan!" Rarity said with her arm around Fluttershy's shoulders. "What to wear for your dates, what to do for your wedding day, and what to WEAR for your wedding day!"

Fluttershy moved away from Rarity. "Rarity, wait…. You're taking this too fast. I just want to take things nice and slow between me and Yorkshire, okay?"

"She's right ya know." Applejack agreed.

"But I love to imagine such romantic things!" Rarity implied.

"I would uh, appreciate it if you would keep those thoughts to yourself for a while please." Fluttershy said.

She sighed. "Oh alright."

"So Fluttershy, tell us." said Rainbow Dash. "What's he like?"

She sat down and exhaled lightly. "I think he's the nicest colt I have ever met." she replied. "He's very sweet, thoughtful, and very funny. Not to mention he's um… very cute."

"Eeek!" Pinkie Pie squealed happily. "This is so super-duper cute!"

She nodded. "His voice can be so gentle. He said he liked me since the first time he saw me." She let out a quiet, happy sigh.

"We're all glad to hear that you're happy that ya feel loved by Yorkshire and that you're in love with him." Applejack said, patting her shoulder. "But be sure to take it slow like ya said, 'kay?"

"Yes, I will. I hope that you will help me if I ever need any."

"Of course." Twilight agreed. "That's what friends are for."

They all gathered close together for a large group hug.

Spike watched them hug and smiled. Seeing them like that, he suddenly felt a little lonely. "Hey uh, can I get some of that?" he asked.

Applejack chuckled. "Come on in, lizard boy."

He went over to them and joined the group hug.

Fluttershy let out a happy sigh. "I hope you all will find ponies to love too."


	4. A Knight's Tale: The Dark Army

Chapter 4

After a while together, Applejack decided to invite her friends over for lunch. They took a nice stroll through Ponyville while heading to Sweet Apple Acres. When they arrived, they all noticed three fillies wearing buckets for helmets and fighting each other with sticks like swords in their mouths. They were known as the Cutie Mark Crusaders: Apple Bloom, younger sister of Applejack, Sweetie Belle, younger sister of Rarity, and Scootaloo.

"Take that, evil one!" Apple Bloom shouted, heading for Scootaloo. She swung her stick, but was blocked by her opponent's.

"You are no match for me, knight!" Scootaloo replied with a grin. She jumped back, then jumped forward swinging her stick at Apple Bloom

Sweetie Belle charged after both of them head on with a loud and high-pitched war cry. She suddenly tripped and tumbled towards her friends. She crashed into them, making them fall also. They looked at each other, seeing if they were alright, then started to laugh together.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack exclaimed. "What in tarnation are y'all doin'?!"

"Hi Applejack!" her young sister replied. "We finally know what we're gonna do for our cutie marks!"

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle agreed. "We're going to be knights!"

Rarity gasped in complete horror. "No little sister of mine is going to be a knight!" she said, putting a hoof down.

"Aw! Rarity!"

"Being a knight is not for young ladies."

"She's right girls." Twilight implied. "It's not fun and games. And besides, I don't think girls are allowed to be knights."

"Why isn't it fun?" Scootaloo asked. "They get to fight monsters, rescue damsels in distress. What is a damsel anyway…?"

"They're also at risk of getting seriously hurt, or worse!" Rarity exclaimed. "And a true lady does not go out and fight whatever monsters are out there!"

"If you want to know what it's like to be in battle, go ask a knight about it." Rainbow Dash said.

"But we don't know any." Apple Bloom said.

Applejack heard hoof steps coming from behind them. She turned and saw Yorkshire coming towards them. "Yorkshire!"

The girls turned around and saw him with a few dirty spots on his face.

Fluttershy blushed and smiled. "Oh… hello Yorkshire…"

He looked to her and smiled. "Good day ladies."

"What's that stuff on your face?" Pinkie Pie asked pointing at the dirty spot.

"Oh, these are just the results of my training with the other knights. Training can be pretty rough." he replied, chuckling.

"Hey Yorkshire. Could ya do me a favor?" Applejack asked.

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"My little sister and her friends wanna be knights, but we think it ain't right for 'em to do that."

"Applejack!" Her little sister exclaimed.

"Hush Apple Bloom!"

"I see." Yorkshire said. He walked around them to the fillies. "Girls, the truth is, none of you can be knights." he started. "Being a knight is a big responsibility. It's no laughing matter. It's a serious job."

"Didn't you say you were in a huge battle?" Rarity asked.

He sighed heavily. "Yes… that was no laughing matter either."

"Ooh! Ooh! Could you tell us about it?" Sweetie Belle asked him excitedly.

Twilight shook her head. "Now girls, I don't think that's reall-"

"Perhaps I should tell them." Yorkshire said, turning his head to her. "I'll tell it to you ladies too. You should all know what happened and how we got here. It'll explain that it's dangerous to be a knight."

"Yorkshire…" Fluttershy said slightly worried. "Are you sure that's alright…?"

He nodded. "Come into the barn and I'll tell you everything." He walked into the empty barn with the girls and fillies following him in. He sat in his pile of hay as everyone else sat around him. He sighed deeply. "You see, in a distant land very far from here, a dark army of vicious lizards swept across that plain of existence." he explained. "One by one, towns and villages were destroyed. They killed all who were in sight; stallions, mares, even colts and fillies like yourselves." he said pointing to the Crusaders.

The fillies cuddled with the older ponies, already shaking with fright from the story's beginning. The older mares just continued listening, holding onto whomever the fillies clung to.

"They were truly black hearted. They were powerful, undefeatable… or so they thought. One way or another, they had to be stopped. I was one of the ten thousand knights who marched across the land to fight the dark army in a great battle." Yorkshire continued. "On the western regions of a lifeless field, the two armies met and fought to the death. We all fought valiantly against the soldiers of darkness. As I fought, I saw my comrades as they were slaughtered. I could hear the screaming of the knights who were wounded and dying, swords and shields clashing with one another. Everywhere it was blood and death. The battle lasted for who knows how long. It felt like days. Soon with enough strength, we made the final charge against the army and they were defeated. Unfortunately…" He sighed, looking at the girls, seeing fear in their eyes. "Out of the ten thousand knights who fought bravely, only five dozen of us survived; including my brother Knighton, the other four that you have seen here, and myself. All around us were the lifeless bodies of the knights who fought in battle.

Rarity slowly opened her mouth. "But… what happened to the rest of the knights who survived…?"

"Most of them… were severely wounded and ill. We decided to come here to treat our wounds, while some wanted to return home which would've taken longer to travel. They no doubt died on their way back. They fought so hard to live, but fate wouldn't leave them alone. They could never return to their families..." He closed his eyes for a few seconds then opened them again. He looked to the girls and saw that all had tears of sadness in their eyes. Some began to sniffle. The fillies started to quietly cry, horrified of the words they had heard from his mouth.

"That's just awful…" Twilight said, keeping herself from crying. "Only six of you coming here…"

"What did you do with the bodies of everypony else…?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to hold back her tears.

"What could we do…?" Yorkshire replied. "All we could do was to leave the deceased unburied… There were too many to count… too many to grief over…"

Fluttershy being the most sensitive could not struggle to keep herself from crying.

Yorkshire moved to her, rubbing his head against hers softly. "It was very hard for the six of us, being the only ones who lived to tell the tale of our battle…" He looked to the fillies who were still crying. "Now do you understand what a knight's life can be sometimes?"

The fillies looked to him and nodded slowly.

He sighed. "Come over here."

They got up and walked close to him. They all hugged together.

"We're so sorry about what happened…" Sweetie Belle said, sniffling.

"It's alright…" he said with a small smile. "The important thing is that the dark army will never attack anypony or any place again, so the others who fought did not die in vain. They died honorably for a good cause. You girls can't become knights for real, but that doesn't mean you have to stop pretending. You girls have better things ahead in your life. Do you understand?"

They looked at him, nodding with little smiles on their faces.

"Yorkshire." Rarity said. "You show such kindness to everypony around you. What does it truly mean to be a knight?" she asked

"It represents that you are loyal, trustworthy, brave, strong, and capable of defending those who are in need of help." he replied. "Even if it means sacrificing your own life." He rubbed his head against Fluttershy's head softly again.

"What is this?" a voice asked.

Everyone turned and saw that it was the red knight. Applejack and Yorkshire were the only ones who knew who he really was.

"Yorkshire, why do these girls show tears in their eyes?" he asked.

"I was telling them about when we were battle against the dark army." Yorkshire

"I see."

"Girls, those of you who don't know, this is my big brother, Knighton." Yorkshire explained.

"How do you do ladies?" he asked with a nod.

"He fought very bravely during the battle." Yorkshire said. "He slew many enemies."

"Bravery wasn't the only feeling I had that day." he looked down slowly with a small frown. "Hatred and revenge is what I also felt."

"Why?" Twilight asked. "Because of what they did to everypony?"

"Because they killed my fiancé…" he replied, gritting his teeth.

They altogether gasped in horror, feeling a sharp pain in their chests.

"Are you sure you're comfortable telling them that?" Yorkshire asked with concern.

"I'm sure." Knighton replied. "I've been holding it in for quite some time. I think it is time take it off my chest." He sat down with them in the hay. "She was a very beautiful mare." He began. "Her coat was as bright and white as the falling snow on a winter's day, and her ruby eyes were as red as the hottest flames in fire. Around her front right leg was a turquoise bracelet that belonged to her mother. She never took it off. It was true love we both believed. Our hearts melted the moment we met. But one day, my little brother and my other four companions had to leave the town for a while to gather some information about the dark army that was coming. We agreed to marry when we returned. We knew that the army wouldn't come through the town for they were too far from there. But fate… had other plans…" Knighton quietly started to breathe heavily, feeling his chest in pain.

"What happened…?" Rarity asked while her voice was breaking with grief and tears were running down her face.

He looked to Rarity. "When we returned, the town was in ruin. All burned down and charred, not a living thing in sight. We searched for survivors who could've been left alive, but I was looking for Angel Wings. That was her name. I found the remains of her home, burned down as well. I looked around, screaming her name. But when I looked down, I was horrified for what I had discovered. A hoof sticking out of the remains of the house completely burned, only to see a bracelet perfectly unharmed. I knew that it was too late. She was gone forever…"

Everypony but Knighton and Yorkshire began to cry more and loud. They were all broken hearted, knowing that death took his true love from him.

"Yes… I too mourned." Knighton continued. He looked to his bag and reached for it. From it, he pulled out the same bracelet that was mentioned in his story. "This was the bracelet she wore." he said, showing it to everypony. "On that day in battle against the dark army, I knew I had my revenge. Every single one of those monsters deserved to die for what they had done." He slowly stood up. "I am sorry to bring great pain and grief upon you. I hope that you all can find it in your hearts to forgive me." He put away the bracelet, rose up and left the barn without another word, leaving Yorkshire with the mourning ponies and fillies.

"That's the saddest story I have ever heard!" Rainbow Dash cried, no longer holding back her tears.

"Oh Angel Wings!" Pinkie Pie bawled. She and Rainbow Dash held each other tightly.

Looking at them sob, Yorkshire felt more pain and grief. He felt a few tears run from his eyes. He felt Fluttershy smother her face into his shoulder and heard her muffled crying.

"It's just not fair!" Apple Bloom yelled. "Why did she have to die?!"

Applejack sighed. "War is a cruel thing, ya know…" she replied, hugging her little sister.

Twilight wiped tears from her eyes, sniffling loudly. "Yorkshire, should we do something for Knighton to make him feel better?"

He shook his head. "That won't be necessary." he replied. "He feels better when he talks about stuff like this to others. He'll be alright. I know my big brother." He slightly smiled.

She smiled back. "Hey girls, let's get ourselves together now, if it's alright."

Appkjack nodded, wiping her tears trying to pull herself together. "Yeah… I don't want the rest of the family to see us like this durin' lunch."

"I'm gonna have to agree on that." Rainbow Dash said, standing up.

Everyone else stood up all except Yorkshire.

"Aren't you coming along?" Scootaloo asked.

"I'm going to stay here for a while." he replied. "Besides, I'm not really hungry."

Fluttershy smiled. "I'll see you later. Don't get too lonely now."

He chuckled. "I won't."

She lightly pecked his cheek, causing him and herself to blush. She let out a little giggle, and followed her friends back outside.

He smiled deeply placing his hoof on his cheek.


	5. Thirteen Tickets

Chapter 5

The next afternoon, Twilight invited her friends over to the library to hang out. They always had a wonderful time with each other. They filled each other with happiness, laughter, and love.

Spike came over to them reading a book about feminine etiquette. "Hey Fluttershy, I might have something that can help you with Yorkshire."

"Oh?" Fluttershy wondered, turning to him. "Help with what?"

"I found this book on female etiquette and I was thinking that this could give you useful tips when you and Yorkshire are together." he replied.

She smiled and shook her head. "No thank you. I don't think I need any books to help me with my building relationship with Yorkshire. I like how it's going for the both of us so far."

"Well, if you insist." Spike threw away the book. He suddenly felt a loud rumble in his stomach. He groaned quietly, placing his hands on it. "I don't feel so good…"

"What's wrong, Spike?" Twilight asked.

Suddenly, he belched out green fire. The flames vanished and appeared as a rolled up letter with the seal of a horseshoe.

She gasped. "It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" she exclaimed, excitedly.

"Those surprise deliveries are getting on my nerves…" he growled.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Read it! Read it!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down wearing a big smile on her face.

He opened the letter, and cleared his throat. "Here ye, here ye!" he read aloud. "Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot exactly three days from now and cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle and her friends."

The six remained silent for a moment.

Rainbow Dash raised a brow. "The Grand Galloping Gala? Are you sure we should go? I mean, don't you all remember the last time we went?"

"Don't remind me!" Rarity replied. "It was a complete disaster! That Prince Blueblood was not the stallion I dreamed him to be! Oh, it makes me so mad just thinking about him!"

"And I never really got to hang out with the Wonderbolts." Rainbow Dash added. "They were too busy talking with other ponies."

"The Gala was too high class for mah apples." Applejack said. "All I got were a few bits for sellin' a pie to that Wonderbolt fella."

"And there was no excitement there!" said Pinkie Pie. "It was so boring with all that slow music!"

"And I'm not so sure that I want to try seeing those animals again… because of what happened that night…" Fluttershy said, remembering her psychotic episode with the fauna at Canterlot.

Twilight looked at all of them, reading their faces with depression. She then lifted a smile.

"I don't think there's anything to worry about this time." she said. "Princess Celestia told me that last time was the most exciting she had ever seen. She assured me that the rest of the Gala nights will be better than ever. So what do you all say? Shall we give the Grand Galloping Gala a second chance?"

"Well, as long as I don't see that Prince Blueblood… I see no other reason not to go again." Rarity said.

Twilight looked at everypony else, seeing them nodding with approval.

"This going to be so exciting!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping higher and higher, already forgetting about the last Gala. "I'll be able to eat all the goodies I want, ride on the super-duper fun rides, and play my favorite pony games!"

"I might as well make a new dress for this year." Rarity implied.

Suddenly Spike burped out golden tickets to the Gala appearing from the green flames. He grabbed the tickets from the air and counted them. "Huh… this doesn't seem right…" he thought.

"What's wrong Spike?" Applejack asked. "Not enough tickets?"

"We have enough," he replied. "but there are thirteen tickets here. We somehow got six more." He then burped out more green fire, and another letter appeared. He opened the letter and read it. "Please pardon this second letter. The extra six tickets are for the knights who have come to Ponyville from battle. Please inform them that they too are invited to the Grand Galloping Gala."

"Oh! So that's what the extra tickets are for." Twilight said. "That's very kind of her to do that."

"Maybe we can all go together." Pinkie Pie suggested.

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked Twilight. "If it's alright if you, could I have one of those extra tickets? I would like to give it to Yorkshire and um… ask him if he would want to go with me to the Gala." She began to blush a little.

"Ooh! Trying to ask him out on a date huh?" Rainbow Dash asked, nudging her shoulder.

She nodded. "Yes."

Twilight giggled. "Of course you can have one." She gave Fluttershy one of the extra tickets using her magic.

"Thank you so much, Twilight."

"Should we head out for the knights now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Why not?" Twilight replied. "If that's alright with everypony else."

They all looked at each other and nodded.

"Alright! Let's head out!"

Twilight opened the door and exited first with the others following.

. . .

A little while later, they arrived at the barn seeing the doors closed. Applejack knocked on the doors loudly.

"Who is it?" a muffled voice asked from inside.

"It's Applejack and the girls!" she replied. "We wanna talk to you guys!"

"Come on in!"

She opened the doors letting herself and the girls in. They saw that the knights were lying around on their piles of hay. Llanfair, Penarth, Tregaron and Rhayader were playing cards while Knighton and Yorkshire were sharpening their swords.

"Okay boys," Tregaron said to his comrades with a grin. "let's see the cards!" He laid out his five cards. "A pair of aces and a pair of tens! Top that!"

Llanfair groaned in frustration. "I fold." he said, placing his cards face down.

"Me too." Rhayader implied, doing the same thing with his cards.

Penarth was still holding his cards. "You guys stink at this game."

They hung down their heads. "We know…" they both said in unison.

Tregaron laughed. "You think you have a better hoof than I do? Show it to me! I dare you!" he demanded, smirking at Penarth

Penarth smirked back and laid out his cards, showing them a six, seven, eight, nine, and ten cards. "Straight flush!" he exclaimed.

Tregaron's jaw dropped, shocked to see that an amateur beat him. "This can't be! I'm the best card player on the team! You just started playing the game!"

"Looks like your winning streak is destroyed Tregaron!" Penarth said, laughing more. He turned his head seeing the girls looking at them giggling. "Hey girls! How's it going?"

"Oh nothing…" Pinkie Pie replied innocently. "Except that the Grand Galloping Gala is coming soon! EEEEEEE!"

"That's right." Twilight implied. "Princess Celestia was kind enough to give us tickets and six more for you guys."

"That's awesome!" Llanfair said, standing up fast. "I've always wanted to go to the Gala!"

Twilight used her magic to give out the tickets to the knights, all except Yorkshire.

Yorkshire noticed that he wasn't given a ticket. "Aren't I invited too?" he asked, curiously.

She turned to Fluttershy, nudging her to ask him.

Fluttershy gulped nervously. She put the other extra ticket in her mouth and slowly walked over to Yorkshire. "Um…" she blushed. "Yorkshire. I was wondering… if it's alright with you…"

"Yes?" he asked.

"I… would you uh… want to… mmmm…"

"Yes?"

She slowly took a deep breath. "Will you go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me?!" Her face turned bright red and closed her eyes tightly.

He slowly got up and stood tall in front of her.

With her eyes closed, all she could hear was silence. She was starting to have the fear that he wouldn't want to go with her. She slowly opened her eyes to see him with a smile.

"Yes." he replied. "I would love to go with you." He slowly and gently took the ticket from her mouth with his.

"I can't believe it…" she thought. "He said yes…! He said yes!" She was about to faint again but Applejack caught her fall.

"Whoa, take it easy girl!" she said, trying to help her stand upright. "You ain't faintin' this time!"

Yorkshire chuckled. "How about we all go together? And after we have our fun together, Fluttershy and I will go off on our own together."

Knighton stood up. "I think that's a nice idea. How about it ladies?" he asked.

"I think we would like that." Twilight replied. "I mean, we did give you the extra tickets after all."

"Be sure to dress nicely, boys." Rarity suggested, giggling.

"We will." they said.

"The Gala is three days from today." Twilight added. "We'll all meet up at the town square and then go to Canterlot."

"Sounds like a plan." Llanfair nodded. "Thank you very much for the tickets!"

"We'll see ya'll later then!" Applejack said.

They all said their good-byes to each other as the girls left.

Yorkshire quickly closed the doors with a big smile on his face. "YES!" he shouted with glee. "I'M GOING ON MY FIRST DATE WITH FLUTTERSHY!" He whooped and bounced all around the room with excitement.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy there little brother!" Knighton said, catching him.

Yorkshire cleared his throat and blushed laughing nervously. "Sorry. I'm just really excited about this!"

"I know you are. Just don't take it too seriously or you might hurt yourself."

"Right. I'll need to get an early start on getting ready. I'll need something to wear though…"

"Isn't there a place somewhere in town that design clothes for special occasions like this?" Knighton asked.

Yorkshire thought about it for a moment and gasped. "Rarity's Carousel Boutique! She makes incredible clothes! I'll ask her to make something awesome and knightly!"

"Go for that then, little stallion!" Rhayader said with encouragement.

"Yeah!" Penarth agreed. "Wouldn't want to look messy on your first date!"

Yorkshire gave him an annoyed look. "Shut up..."

. . .

Meanwhile, the girls were hanging out around the apple trees having some for a snack. They were all chatting about what to wear for the Gala.

"We still have those dresses that you made for us." Applejack said. "I think it'd be a good idea to wear 'em to the Gala again."

"Of course! I would love for all of us to look glamorous this year!" Rarity replied.

Fluttershy however frowned with her ears folded back. "Rarity… I don't know how to say this, but I might've ripped the dress you made for me… It was also covered in dirt from my little issue with the animals there…"

Rarity gasped. "That's terrible! You must have something to wear on your first date with Yorkshire!"

"I know. I do wish that I had something very special for the Gala."

"I'll tell you what, how about I make a new dress for you? Something that will suit you better than that old dress I made."

Fluttershy turned to Rarity "You will?"

"Why of course! This is your first date after all."

Fluttershy hugged her tight with a big smile. "Thank you so much Rarity. I would just love that."

Rarity made her horn glow, starting to use magic. She made a piece of paper and a pen appeared. "I already have a few ideas in mind, so I'll let this be a surprise."

. . .

Hours later, Rarity returned to her boutique to start working on Fluttershy's dress for the dance. She gathered the supplies she needed with her magic. She began to draw out the sketches of the dress. "Now to get started." she said. "This dress will look beautiful on her!" She then heard the bell from her door ringing, knowing that someone had entered her shop. She stopped sketching and walked into the lobby. "Can I help you with anything?" she asked. She looked and saw that it was Yorkshire coming into her shop for the second time. "Yorkshire! It's a surprise to see you in here again."

He nodded. "Yes it is."

"Have you come in here to take another look around?"

"Actually, I need a favor."

"Oh? And what is that, may I ask?"

He chuckled nervously. "I need you to make an outfit for me for the Gala. I don't really have anything to wear."

"Do you have any ideas what you want the outfit to look like?" she asked.

"Yes. I would like you to make me a green and white surcoat with an eagle on the chest with its wings spread open. I have some chainmail back at the barn that I could wear underneath, but could you also make long sleeved black pants and shirt for underneath as well? I would greatly appreciate it." He took some bits out from his belt bag and placed it on the table. "Will this much do?"

"For you, yes." she replied with a smile. "I would be honored to design an outfit for sweet, gentle knight like you."

He blushed and chuckled. "Thank you for that compliment. I really want this to be a special night for Fluttershy. I really want to show her how much I care about her. I want to make her happy. She's like a flower in the form of a bud, soon to bloom." He lowered his head. "I'm just really nervous about this…"

Rarity walked over to him. She lifted up his chin with her hoof, making him look at her face. "I'm sure Fluttershy's nervous too, sweetie." she said softly. "I just know from the look in her eyes, she cares about you too. You are one of the sweetest, most caring ponies we have ever met. You show such passion, confidence, and loyalty. Don't start doubting yourself before the Gala. I know you'll have a wonderful time together. I believe in you, Yorkshire. Make it the best night of her entire life."

"Thank you very much for your kind words of encouragement." he said, hugging her. He turned back and walked to the exit of the shop. "I hope to see the outfit soon!"

"I can guarantee that you'll be happily satisfied when come back!" sSe sighed happily. "Love is truly a magical thing." She continued sketch out Fluttershy's outfit as well as Yorkshire's. When they were done, she began cut out shapes from her most unique rolls of fabric to use for the outfits and sewed them together with accessories added onto them. "This will be a dance they'll never forget."


	6. To the Grand Gallloping Gala

Chapter 6

Two days down, one day to go until the Grand Galloping Gala.

Rarity spent her daily hours for the past two days to create luscious outfits for two very special ponies: Fluttershy and Yorkshire. After hours of using magic and hard work, the outfits were finally done. She had them displayed on pony mannequins to see how they look. She examined Fluttershy's first. Her outfit included a small crown of brown, and yellow fake leaves and vines. The long silk dress that reached over to the hind legs had various colors of the autumn season: red, orange, and yellow. Slippers were on the front hooves with silk straps wrapped around the ankles up to the knees.

"Everything is now perfect for Fluttershy's." Rarity thought to herself. "Now to look at Yorkshire's outfit."

His was no exception. The surcoat of the outfit was green and white that reached to the flank, covering it. On the front, a black eagle with white detailed outlines was sewed on with its wings spread open almost touching the sleeveless openings. Under the surcoat, she added a long sleeved shirt and pants to go with the outfit. "They're going to be so happy about this!" She then heard the door's bell ringing. She quickly hid the new clothes on the mannequins away in two separate rooms. She looked to see who it was and saw that it was Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy! Welcome!"

"Good afternoon Rarity." she said. "I got your note this morning. You wanted to show me something?"

"Oh yes! I just finished your dress for the Gala! Please follow me." Rarity walked into a small room with Fluttershy following. She showed her in, revealing the dress. "There it is."

Fluttershy's eyes widened and gasped quietly, gazing upon the beautiful dress. "Oh Rarity, it's so wonderful! I love it!" she exclaimed, hugging Rarity. "Thank you so much. I just know that Yorkshire's going to love it."

Rarity smiled and hugged her back. "I hope so too. Now then, you better take it home with you and keep it hidden before the Gala." She removed the dress off of the mannequin and wrapped it carefully in a bag. She handed it over to Fluttershy. "You're going to look beautiful in that dress."

"I thank you again, Rarity. Bye!" Fluttershy exited the store with the bag held by her front legs.

About an hour later, Rarity heard the door bell ring again. She looked in the lobby and saw Yorkshire enter the shop. "Yorkshire, darling! You're just in time!"

"Is my outfit finished?" he asked.

"Of course! You're just going to adore it! Come this way!"

He followed her to the second small room across from the first. Before she opened the door, she closed his eyes. He chuckled. "You want this to be a surprise, don't you?"

She giggled. "Very much." She opened the door, letting him in. "Keep those eyes closed." she reminded him. When they were in front of the outfit, she uncovered his eyes. "You can look now."

Yorkshire slowly opened his eyes. He looked at his new outfit for the Gala with widened eyes. His jaw dropped and began to stammer, unable to speak words. He circled the display. He looked to Rarity, staring at her.

"You like it?" she asked, smiling.

"I love it!" he exclaimed. He dashed to Rarity and hugged her, making her yelp. "Thank you so much Rarity! It's amazing! I just know that Fluttershy's going to love this too!"

"It's no problem at all."

"You have no idea how much this means to me!" he said with a big smile.

"I'm sure I do, dear." Rarity replied, giggling. "Just let me wrap your outfit and you can be on your way." She took the outfit off from the mannequin and wrapped it nicely. She slipped the wrapped outfit into his large belt bag. "Enjoy the Gala with Fluttershy tomorrow! Make her happiness last through the night."

He nodded, turning to the exit. "Again, I thank you for using your gracious skills for this piece of art you have made."

"You are most welcome. See you tomorrow night."

"You too!" He then quickly left the boutique.

Rarity watched him walk away through the window. She galloped back into her office and began to design and make her dress for the Gala. "Grand Galloping Gala, here comes Rarity!"

. . .

It was on the early evening of the Grand Galloping Gala that the knights and the girls would meet at the town square before heading to Canterlot. They all met, looking at each other with amazement. The girls saw how handsome the knights were in their robes, surcoats and chainmail with their swords hung by their sides. The knights saw how lovely the girls looked in their dresses.

"You girls look ravishing tonight." said Knighton.

"Thank you for that compliment." Twilight said, giggling. "And may we say how you boys look very masculine with those clothes on."

He chuckled. "Twilight, shall we introduce our little couple for the Gala?" he asked with a wink.

She nodded. "That would be a wonderful idea." She turned to Fluttershy that was behind the others who was in her beautiful new dress. "You ready to see your date?"

Fluttershy blushed and rubbed her front leg nervously. "Y-yes…" she replied.

Knighton turned to Yorkshire who was in his new outfit. "Ready to meet the mare of your dreams?"

Yorkshire gulped and chuckled nervously. "Yes I am."

The other knights and girls slowly moved aside, creating a path for the two to see each other.

Fluttershy and Yorkshire looked to each other. They remained silent. They were suddenly filled with such strong emotion and lust: their hearts beating fast, their faces in red, and their eyes in complete awe. They walked to each slowly and careful.

Yorkshire could not believe what he saw. It was as if he had seen a goddess of nature.

Fluttershy felt the same. She had now seen the most handsome young knight she had ever seen and has feelings for. They were then standing face-to-face with each other.

"Fluttershy…" Yorkshire said, breaking the silence. "You're so beautiful…."

She blushed brightly. "You're looking… very handsome tonight…" she replied. "I really like how you look in that suit... the tunic matches your eyes…"

"And… I love how the dress depicts you so well. It matches your true nature." He slowly raised and kissed her hoof, making her blush. "Shall we go?" he asked.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yes." She and Yorkshire led the way for everypony else to the train station to take a ride to Canterlot.

"I think they like each other more now." Llanfair whispered to Pinkie Pie.

"That's what happens when ponies fall in love." she whispered back, giggling wildly.

. . .

Later while the sun was setting behind the hills, and their train arrived in Canterlot's city. They got off, taking a stroll down the main road of the city where it would directly lead them to the Gala. The group then arrived to the majestic castle of Canterlot. The royal guards outside proudly opened the gates, letting them and other guests in. As they walked through the main hall, they looked around seeing two rows of guards in armor standing side by side. They continued to walk until they reached a set of large doors. They could hear muffled orchestra music coming from the other side. The doors were slowly opened by butlers from the other side. The group entered through, seeing a large ballroom with shimmering lights hovering from above, dozens of large window doors all around, and the reflecting marble floor. Hundreds of well dressed stallions and mares were inside the ballroom chatting, feasting on appetizers, and dancing in the middle of the floor along with the music from the orchestra.

"Holy moly!" Rhayader exclaimed in amazement. "This place is huge!"

"Why of course." said Rarity. "I've always enjoyed the culture, fashion, and glamour in occasions like this."

They all walked further into the party with Yorkshire and Fluttershy still in the lead. They stood by the side, watching those who were dancing in the middle.

"Hey Fluttershy, after we get settled in here, would you like to dance a little?" he asked.

She nodded slowly and blushed. "I would love to." she replied.

The music slowly ended, and everypony were lightly clapping their hoofs on the floor as applause.

"My welcomed guests!" said a loud voice.

Everypony turned to where the voice was heard and saw Princess Celestia standing from the doors with two royal guards standing beside her.

"I am pleased to welcome all of you to another year of the Grand Galloping Gala! You may have noticed some changes to the Gala this year. I wish to make the Grand Galloping Gala more exciting for everypony. I do hope that all of you enjoy yourselves with us here at the capital of Canterlot!" She looked from the opened doors, seeing a group of knights and ladies standing towards the side of the ballroom. She walked along the side, heading for the group. Everypony else but the group stood aside to let her through. She walked up to the knights and the mares, greeting them with a smile.

They all bowed to her in respect.

"Please rise fellow knights and lady companions." the princess said. She watched them rise, standing up again. "Brave and noble knights, welcome to Canterlot."

"Thank you your Grace." Knighton replied. "We thank you for inviting us to your Gala tonight."

She nodded and turned to Twilight. "My faithful student. I thank you and your friends for bringing these knights to my castle."

"You are indeed welcome your highness." Twilight said, bowing to her once more. "These knights have told us of their tale in battle. A very tragic one."

"I can believe it is." She looked to all of them. "I welcome all of you personally and hope that you enjoy your night. I only wish that my younger sister was here to greet you too. She's very fond of knights."

"How is she?" Rarity asked.

"She's doing just fine." she replied. "I know that she'll be here soon. She always loves to dance when it comes to the Gala."

Suddenly, one of the large windows slowly opened up by themselves, letting the wind lightly blow into the ballroom. Then a stream of glistening stars slowly flew into the room. Everypony wondered why it was there and were in awe at the same time. Only Celestia knew about the stream of stars and smiled. The stars hovered down to the floor and created a bright flash. From the flash appeared Princess Luna. Her coat was colored in dark blue; her long flowing mane and tail were too in blue covered in the night sky's glistening stars and bore the mark of the crescent moon on her flank. Everypony applauded the younger princess's arrival.

The knights all watched the princess walk to her sister. Knighton suddenly had a strange feeling swelling up inside him as if all his pains went away. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. His stomach felt a little upset, and his heart was beating quickly. He blushed, but tried to hide it.

"Luna." Celestia said to her. "I'm glad you could make it."

"I'm sorry I didn't come early." Luna said in a young, beautiful voice. "I'm back on the job for bringing up the moon, remember?"

She laughed. "Why of course. Come little sister, there are some guests I would like you to meet." She showed her the girls and the knights. "You remember Twilight Sparkle and her friends don't you?"

Luna looked to them as they were bowing to her and smiled. "I do. The girls who saved me from my evil form." She bowed to them deeply. She raised up and turned to the knights. She saw that one of them, the one in red was looking at her with a strange look in his eyes. When she looked at him, she began to have a strange connection to him. She blushed brightly and did nothing to hide it. She walked up to him with a nervous smile.

Knighton was beginning to feel nauseous, wtinessing the young princess walking up to him. He tried his hardest to hide his blushing but failed.

"Hello… good Sir Knight." she said in a quiet voice.

"G-good evening your majesty…" he said, slowly bowing to her. The other knights joined.

"Please rise." she said. "Welcome to Canterlot. Please tell me, where do you six come from?" she asked Knighton.

Knighton gulped nervously as she continued to speak with him. He breathed deeply to calm himself down. "We come from a very far land." he replied. "That's all we can tell. We travelled to Ponyville after fighting in a deathly battle against a dark army, being the only survivors who made it out alive."

She gasped. "That is awful… I'm terribly sorry about all that you have been through… I do hope that your injuries have healed."

"We were wounded, but we weren't that hurt." he replied. "But the emotions I feel remembering the war still hurt once in a while…"

Twilight noticed that Princess Luna was very interested in hearing things from only Knighton. She walked close to Princess Celestia's side. "I think your sister might have a little interest in Knighton." she whispered with a hint of giggling.

Celestia smiled down to her. "Luna's first love." she said. "That would be something." She then walked up to the two. "Shall we get the Gala started, Luna?"

"Oh yes! I would like that very much!" Luna replied with a smile.

The princesses, knights, and girls moved away from the middle of the room as everypony circled around it.

The orchestra began to play slow, graceful music. Dressed up couples from the crowd galloped to the middle and began to slow dance with each other on their hind legs with their front hooves pressed together. Everypony else watched and listened.

Yorkshire suddenly had this urge to dance with Fluttershy. "Fluttershy?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to dance?"

She blushed, slowly nodding. "Yes. I would love to dance with you…" she replied. "But… there's just one teeny-tiny problem…"

"What's wrong?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.

"I… I don't know how to slow dance…" she said with a small frown. "And I get really nervous when a lot of ponies are watching me…"

He smiled. "I'll teach you."

She blushed again, turning to him. "You will…?"

"Of course." He gently nuzzled her cheek. "Let's give it a try."

She nodded. "Okay… I'll try."

They slowly walked onto the dance floor, and then stood in front of each other.

"Waltzing is the kind of dancing everypony is doing now. All it is is just slow leg movement, slow spins and slow swerves." he explained. "Just follow my leg movements and you'll be fine."

Fluttershy gulped quietly and nodded. They both slowly stood up on their hind legs. Yorkshire raised one hoof with hers and wrapped the other around her waist.

Fluttershy blushed from his touch on her waist. Remembering what waltzing ponies looked like, she placed her other hoof on his shoulder. She blushed more as they moved closer together until their bodies were barely touching each other.

"You'll do just fine Fluttershy." Yorkshire whispered in her ear. "I believe in you."

Meanwhile, the girls from the crowd watched Fluttershy and Yorkshire slowly starting to dance with each other through the flow of the waltz. They felt great happiness in their hearts seeing Fluttershy being able to conquer one of her small fears.

Yorkshire, Fluttershy, and everypony else who was in the middle of the ballroom danced in unison. They stepped back, stepped forward, from the right, to the left. Together they twirled and leaped. The stallions lifted their mares and spun in a circle, letting them down back on their hind hooves. They all had smiles on their faces. There was not a care in the world that could interrupt these special moments.

"Awww! They look to cute together!" said Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down.

"Yorkshire always seems so confident in that gal." Applejack added.

"It's so sweet that Fluttershy has someone to help and be with her." Twilight implied.

"That's my little brother alright." Knighton said with a chuckle. "Always has hope for those who he believes in."

"Yes." Twilight came closer to him until her muzzle was close to his ear. "Hey Knighton, what do you think of Princess Luna?" she whispered.

He blushed bright. "Uh… excuse me?"

"Come on. Don't play naive with me." she continued. "I saw how you looked when you saw her. I saw that she looked to be fond of you too."

"Well uh…" He cleared his throat. "Yes, I do think she's very beautiful."

"And…?" she asked raising her eyebrows.

He sighed with a smile. "And yes, I think I am starting to… have feelings for her."

She smiled. "I think she really needs somepony to talk to. She wasn't always like what you see her now."

"Yes. The story of the Mare in the Moon." He implied. "I remember my mother telling the story when I was a little colt."

"She did?"

"Yes. And every time I heard that story, I would get very depressed. Not because she was evil, but because she was misunderstood."

"I felt the same way. It's safe to assume that nopony wants to feel lonely and unwanted."

"The poor thing…" He looked to Princess Luna who was ten feet away from him. "She looks so happy now." he said, turning back to Twilight.

"Yes, on the outside. But deep down, she wants someone to love her. And since you're beginning to have certain feelings for her, maybe you should try spending some time with Princess Luna."

Meanwhile, Luna was looking to Knighton, taking deep breaths. "He's so handsome Celestia…" she said to her older sister. "I feel so strange whenever I see him…"

Celestia giggled. "I was starting to notice that as well. It would be nice if you had a stallion in your life."

"But, do you think it's him that I will be with for the rest of my life?"

"There's only one way to find out." Celestia replied. "Ask him to dance with you."

Luna immediately blushed. "I-I don't know."

"Come on, little sister. Just try."

She looked to her older sister, then to Knighton, then back to her. She thought about her sister's idea for a few seconds and agreed to it with a nod. "Alright. I'll do it."

Soon the waltz music ended, and the dances slowly ceased to a halt. Everypony applauded to the orchestra and the dancers.

Fluttershy looked around seeing all of the ponies applauding them. She saw Twilight and her friends cheering and whistling to her and Yorkshire. She suddenly hugged him tightly. "Oh Yorkshire! That was the best dance I've ever done…!" She pecked his cheek with a kiss. "Thank you so much for that wonderful dance."

"Aww, it was my pleasure." Yorkshire said, kissing her cheek back. He and Fluttershy walked back to the others in the crowd.

"That dancing was beautiful." Twilight said.

"Indeed." Knighton agreed, rubbing Yorkshire's head. "I'm proud of you little brother."

Yorkshire laughed. "Come on Knighton, not in front of everyone."

He chuckled. He them felt a light tap on his shoulder from somepony behind him. He turned around to see Princess Luna with a little shy look on her face. He couldn't help but blush.

"Hello Sir Knight…" she said rubbing her leg. "Will you… do the honor of dancing with me…?"

"I uh… uh…" Knighton stammered and started to feel his body shake.

"Come on Knighton, say yes…" Yorkshire quietly said, nudging his brother in his side.

From the nudge, he was focused again. He looked to Luna and smiled. "Of course I will." he replied, lifting her hoof and kissing it.

"Oh my, charmed are we?" she asked, blushing. "Shall we?"

He nodded. "Let's."

Together, they walked to the middle of the dance floor. The ballroom was completely silent. Everypony saw that a stallion wanted to dance with the princess of the moon. The conductor looked to Celestia with a surprised look on his face. She nodded to him signaling to play music. The conductor turned the pages in his booklet until he got to a perfect song. He tapped his stand to get the players' attention. He slowly started to move his small baton and the orchestra began to play slow majestic music. With the music, Luna and Knighton began to dance gracefully. They made no mistakes with their leg movements. Everypony were amazed to see how gentle their dancing was.

As they danced, Knighton and Luna looked deep into each other's eyes. Knighton could see her eyes glistening like the stars on a clear night with no clouds in sight. Luna saw that his eyes were like the deepest blue of the ocean. They continued to dance smoothly. As they did, they also felt lust for each other.

"What is this feeling…?" Luna thought. "Am I really growing fond of this handsome stallion…? Is this a dream… or is this real…?" Positive thoughts and doubts filled up her head. "If this is a dream, I never want to wake. If this is real… please let it never stop…" She closed her eyes, slowly leaning her head against his neck.

"Can this really be love…?" he thought. "Is the princess really head over hooves with me?" He closed his eyes and looked up. "Angel Wings, if you are seeing this, please give me the strength to love her as much as I loved you…" He kept his eyes closed, and slowly and gently rested his chin in Luna's mane.

Princess Celestia watched them with a smile, but started to sniffle with a hint of tears.

Yorkshire heard some sniffling from Celestia. He turned and saw tears in her eyes. "Your majesty?" he asked. "Why are you crying…?"

She wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "I'm sorry. It's just that I've never seen Luna so happy." she replied.

"It looks like my brother's having a wonderful time dancing with your sister."

She nodded. "And it looks like my sister's having a wonderful time dancing with your brother."

"Brother…" he thought. "I think you have found happiness again."

Knighton and Luna slowly stopped dancing as the music had end. When it stopped, everypony was applauding loudly for the knight and princess. They both bowed to the crowd and then looked to each other.

"This is the first time in one thousand years that I've been so happy…" she said. She gave him a gentle kiss to his cheek. "Thank you so much Sir Knight…"

He slowly wrapped his front legs around her, hugging her with warmness from his heart. "Please, call me Knighton."

Her whole face slowly turned red. "I love that name." Luna commented.

They both walked together back to their others. Knighton went to the knights and the girls while Luna went back to her older sister.

"That was beautiful dancing, Luna! I'm so proud of you!" Celestia said rubbing her head against Luna's.

"Sister…?" Luna asked.

"What is it?"

"I think it's official now…" she said. She took a deep breath to calmly speak. "I think I love him."

Celestia smiled big. She looked to Knighton who was being showered with compliments by the girls and the knights.

"So tell us!" Penarth said. "What's she like?"

Knighton laughed. "She's very kind, sweet, and gentle. I think she's beyond any other princess I have heard about or seen before." He sighed happily.

"Oh my! This is going to be so exciting!" Rarity said in glee. "I hope I get to be the bridesmaid of honor!"

"Whoa whoa! Easy there Rarity!" Applejack said, calming her down. "Don't get carried away just yet. Besides, wouldn't it be better if you were to make the bride's dress IF they get married?"

She gasped loudly with a huge smile. "Yes! I would love to make a beautiful dress for Princess Luna! The dress color will definitely match her mane!" She squealed in great delight.

"Hey, that dream might come true." Yorkshire said.

Knighton immediately blushed and nudged his little brother's head. "Not you too!"

"Come on, wouldn't you like that?"

"I… I guess..." Knighton replied shyly.

Twilight giggled. "It's always nice to have a little dream in your mind."

. . .

Later that night, Yorkshire and Fluttershy went off on their own together. They walked outside onto a large stone balcony where nopony else was. They looked up to the beautiful night sky with millions of stars glistening and the moon closely shining its bright light on Canterlot.

"It's such a beautiful night." Yorkshire said, gazing at the stars.

"Yes." she replied. "Princess Luna sure has made the moon a bit closer tonight." Gazing upon the beautiful moon, she slowly leaned her head against Yorkshire's shoulder blushing and smiling. She sighed happily as she felt her chest beating. "The moon's lovely tonight, don't you think?"

Yorkshire looked down her and smiled. "I can think of something else that's lovely." he said blushing a little bit.

"And what would that be?"

He gently kissed her head. "You."

She blushed, giggling quietly. "You REALLY like me, don't you?" she asked, giving him a little smile.

"I do." he replied, gently resting his chin on her head. "Very much."

She gently kissed his cheek. "I really like you too." she said with her face turning red again.

They both looked at each other with their faces close to one another. In their minds, they thought to themselves how beautiful or handsome the other was. They both felt to kiss each other's cheeks again. They closed their eyes at the same time. Not seeing where they were kissing, they felt their lips lightly touching each other. They slowly opened their eyes, and realized they were kissing on the wrong part of their faces. They quickly broke the kiss, both blushing brightly.

Yorkshire quietly chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that… I was trying to go for your cheek…"

"No, I'm sorry…" she said giggling. "I-I was trying to kiss your cheek too… but…"

"But what…?"

"That… was a very nice… kiss we just did…"

"Y-yeah… That one was nice…"

She again leaned her head against his shoulder and then slowly wrapped her tail around his.

He looked down to her, smiling. He rested his chin on her head again.

For a while, they sat looking up at the glistening night sky together as their hearts slowly filled up with their growing love for each other.


	7. Fun Times at the Gala

Chapter 7

The other girls and knights decided to go their separate ways around the Gala and would meet back at the castle in two hours. However, they also thought it would be nice if each girl had one of the knights to go with them. Yorkshire was with Fluttershy, and Knighton was spending time with Princess Luna so Twilight and Spike went off together just to take a look around the Gala to see what they could do. That left Llanfair going with Pinkie Pie, Tregaron went with Rarity, Penarth with Rainbow Dash, and Rhayader with Applejack. All went to different sections of the Grand Galloping Gala.

Pinkie Pie and Llanfair went to the section of the Gala where it was like an amusement park. It was a new addition to the Grand Galloping Gala, where adults and even kids could have fun. Pinkie Pie's eyes were in complete awe of what she was seeing. It was her original vision of the Gala coming true; there were rides, games, and concessions stands where they served yummy junk food and candy.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed with excitement. "This is MUCH better than what the last Galloping Gala was like!"

"What happened last time?" Llanfair asked.

"It was awful! Super-duper-terrible!" she replied. "There was no excitement at all! It was so dull! None of this was even here!"

"Was it really that bad?"

"To ponies like me, it was a nightmare… But! Now that this amusement park is here, we can have all the excitement we want! So, what's your favorite part of an amusement park? The rides? The food? The candy?"

He smiled. "To be honest, I've never really had the pleasure to try candy."

She gasped loudly in complete shock. "You've never tried candy before?! Quick! To the concession stands!" she yelled. She dashed off quickly being followed by Llanfair.

He laughed loudly, following her. "Is she always this hyper?" He continued to follow her until she suddenly stopped. He tried to stop, but slipped and fell on his back. He groaned quietly and looked up, only to see Pinkie's big bright blue eyes.

"Come on, Llanfair!" she said with her brows raised. "Stop fooling around!"

"Uh… isn't that what we're doing right now?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

She thought about his question for a moment. "Oh yeah! We are fooling around!" She quickly helped him up and took him to one of the concession stands that were selling cotton candy. "We would like two sticks of cotton candy please?" she said to the worker.

"So what's cotton candy?" Llanfair asked her.

"You really don't know much about candy, do you?"

"How would I know? I never tried it."

"Here's how it works for cotton candy." she said, showing him the worker twirling a small paper stick around in a small spinning machine that was releasing strings of pink cotton. "You spin that stick around in that spinny thingamajig and strings of pink fluffy candy build up around the stick until you have a fluff of candy the size of a pillow! It's very sweet and yummy! Yummy for my tummy!"

He laughed. "Let's get that tummy filled then! And mine! I haven't eaten in a while." He looked to the worker who had two sticks covered in pink cotton candy. He gently took the sticks. "Thank you." he said, paying the worker. He handed one of the sticks to Pinkie Pie. "Here's one for you."

"Thank you!" She took one big bite, eating off half of the cotton candy. "Mmmmm! Such sweet, sugary goodness! Please try it! You'll love it!"

He took a small bite of the cotton candy and felt its sweet taste on his tongue. "This is good!" he exclaimed happily. He suddenly felt the cotton candy immediately dissolve in his mouth. "Oh wow! It melted in my mouth!"

"That's what can make it so fun and stunning!" she said. finishing up her cotton candy. "Hurry up and finish that! We have more goodies to try, and rides to ride!" She began to hop away, smiling and giggling.

Llanfair quickly finished his cotton. "Wait for me, Pinkie Pie!" he cried, catching up to her.

. . .

Applejack and Rhayader decided to go to the county fair; another new addition to the Gala. They galloped under the banner that was the entrance of the fair. They looked around and saw various events going on: pie eating contests, cow milking contests, rodeos, vegetable contests of who had the biggest vegetable, food baking and raffle games. A part of the Gala best suited for country ponies.

"Mah new favorite part of the Gala!" Applejack said. "I'll enjoy comin' here every year! This place always reminds me of the apple ranch."

"I can probably tell." Rhayader said. "I have been to a couple of fairs like this back home before I became a knight. As a colt, I loved to compete in the pie eating contests. There were so many flavors to eat: raspberry, cherry, apple cinnamon, and anything else. Once in a while I could feel the memory of flavors on my tongue."

"Did ya win any of the contests?" she asked.

"I won in a couple," he replied. "but I always got sick after every contest was done."

She chuckled. "I ought to get mah Granny Smith to make a pie for ya. She makes the best apple pies in Ponyville."

"I would like that very much."

Applejack's ear suddenly twitched, hearing strange music. She heard the music being upbeat, traditional with violins and clacks of rhythm.

"Huh, that's the strangest music I've ever heard in all mah days."

Rhayader listened to the music carefully and smiled. "It's riverdance." he said.

"Riverdance? I don't quite follow." she impled, completely puzzled.

"Riverdancing is an ancient tradition by the old nomads on the island off the coast of the Equestrian land." he explained. "The dancing expressed happiness to the ancient race of Earth ponies. It consists of fast step dancing. It's amazing to watch the legs step and move so swiftly."

"Is it anythin' like tap dancin'?" she asked. "Cause when I was a filly, I took some tap dancin' lessons for a few years."

He looked to her and raised a brow, smiling. "You want to give it a try?"

She grinned to him. "You betcha!"

"Let's follow the music then!" he said, pointing the way.

They began to follow the music. They walked a little bit to get there. They soon stopped, seeing ponies in green, in red, and in white all clacking their hooves loudly on the concrete ground with rhythm, dancing to the music. The music was being played by three violinists, an accordion player, a recorder player, and two drummers. They all finished the dance with three loud clacks and everypony around them were applauding loudly.

Applejack's eyes widened when she saw how fast their hooves were moving when they danced. "Land sake!" she exclaimed. "That has got to be the fastest dancin' I've ever seen before in mah entire life!"

He laughed. "That's riverdancing for you."

The music players began to play another song. The first began it with a soft introduction that would be used for slow dancing, but the drummers started to make quiet beats.

"Come on!" Rhayader said to Applejack. "You said you wanted to try riverdancing, right?" he asked. He slowly began to clack his hoofs in rhythm.

"Y-yeah! I'll give it a shot." she said with a little worry in her tone. She carefully listened to the beating rhythm of the music. At the right possible time, she began to tap her hooves against the hard ground with rhythm. Soon, she and Rhayader were clacking their hooves along with the other ponies who were dancing. "Oh mah stars…!" she said, looking down at her moving hooves. "I'm doin' it! I'm actually doin' it!"

Rhayader laughed. "It's a lot of fun isn't it?"

They both moved into the crowd of the dancing ponies. All together, everypony were clacking their hooves almost at the same time. Suddenly the music became more upbeat and the rhythm grew quicker. Soon, all of the instruments of the band were being played, and everypony's hooves were clacking faster. Applejack and Rhayader quickly adapted with the faster beat and rhythm. Together, they became quite a riverdancing team. They both smiled at each other while dancing close.

"How does it feel?" Rhayader asked.

"Just like when I was an itty bitty filly!" she replied, laughing with joy.

They continued clacking their hooves against the concrete. They saw ponies that were watching the dancers had faces of amazement. Then a flute form the music group started to blow loudly, signaling the climax of the song. All of sudden, all of the dancers stopped but Rhayader, who was still dancing. They circled around him watching his rhythm with his hooves on the concrete. Applejack, who was close to him, watched up front. She too wanted to join the solo. She joined dancing with him; performing in front of the dancers as a pair. Now all of the instruments of the music group grew louder and louder. All watched Applejack and Rhayader dance beautiful with their quickened hooves. At the same time, the rest of dancers joined in, stomping their hooves in rhythm, making their clacking heard from all around the county fair. Everyone there was completely happy and without a care in the world. The music suddenly had a dramatic stop, making the dancers end their dance with six loud clacks.

The crowds went wild with applause and cheering, going nonstop for a long while.

Rhayader, Applejack, and the dancers gave the crowd deep bows of thanks.

"You did a wonderful job, Applejack!" Rhayader said, patting her shoulder.

"Wow… I barely remember dancin' that well." she said. "But I had a great time dancin' with ya!"

"This calls for a little celebration!"

"Yeah! Let's get some pie! Mah treat!" She started galloping off to find a stand that sold pie.

"No! Let me treat you!" he protested, following her.

"No way!" She laughed. "You did somethin' for me that I enjoyed, so I'll be the one treatin' you!"

He sighed knowing that he wouldn't be able to win the argument and formed a small smile on his face. "So much for being a gentlecolt." he thought with a chuckle.

. . .

On the other side of the Gala, Rarity walked around showing off her new beautiful dress with Tregaron by her side where the high class ponies were gathered. Many ponies looked and saw the purple maned mare in a gorgeous dress. They all began to clamor with one another, muttering about the beautiful dress.

"A lot of ponies seem to like your new dress." Tregaron whispered.

"Yes. I thought I should make a new one of this year's Gala." Rarity said.

"I do have to admit, that dress is very stunning."

She smiled. "Thank you. I worked very hard on this dress. I am hoping that everyone would be mesmerized by my… grace and sophistication."

"And you probably deserve to be seen with such amazement."

"Of course I deserve it. I am Ponyville's best fashion designer after all. I hope that my name will stretch all over Equestria!"

He chuckled. "That is a very nice dream." he commented.

"Do you have any hopes and dreams, Tregaron?" she asked.

"I don't really have many dreams." he replied. "But the only hope I have is to become one of the greatest knights in all of Equestria."

She looked up to him and smiled. "I think you're already getting close to that goal." she said, agreeing to his thought.

"You really think so?"

"Yes. You and the knights defeated a vicious army. Fighting for your life and for others is a very brave and compassionate deed. That is something you and other ponies should be very proud of. You and the knights have such strength and strong hearts, not to mention good looks too." She giggled.

He blushed a little bit, chuckling quietly. "Thanks. I actually come from a family of good looks."

"Oh really? What's your family like?" she asked curiously.

He sighed with a smile. "I was the only child of the family." he replied. "My father was a shopkeeper and my mother was his assistant. I got my coat color and body from my father, and my eyes, mane and tail color from my mother. It was a dull life running a shop. My parents didn't want that for my sake. They wanted me to have an adventurous life, just like my father wanted to do when he was a colt. But never got to live the dream."

"What did they do for you?" Rarity asked.

"Like all of the other ponies who become knights, I was sent to live in the home of a knight who taught me how to fight, and behave like one." He then let out a quiet sigh. "I haven't seen my parents since… I sure do miss them…"

She looked down in pity for him. "I'm sure they miss you too."

"I just know that one day, I'm going to see them again." he said looking up at the night sky. "And when I do, I will tell them of the adventures I've had being a knight."

"I bet they would love to hear all about it when you go back." she implied. She then placed her hoof on her throat. "All of this chatting is making me thirsty."

"May I get you something to drink then… milady?" he asked with a grin.

She giggled and nodded. "I would like that, thank you very much." she replied.

Tregaron showed her the way, letting her walk before him and started to follow her from behind.

. . .

Rainbow Dash and Penarth entered the gaming section of the Gala's amusement park. They looked around and saw various attractions of different games to play: ring toss, high striker, crossbow target shooting, etc.

"Hey Penarth, you good at any of these games?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Penarth laughed. "We did games like these in training. I probably might be able to get a good shot at these games."

"I'm pretty good at the whack-a-mole with my super speed of course! Nopony can beat my speed!"

He slowly raised a brow and grinned. "Is that a challenge?"

She thought about what she just said and smirked. "Yeah, I guess it is!"

"I accept it then!" he announced. "Let's see if you're actually fast at whack-a-mole!"

"You're gonna eat my dust Penarth!" she said laughing. Together, they galloped over to the whack-a-mole stand. "I'll let you go first."

"Alright then." He paid for the first round of the game. He picked up the mallet, raising it over his head as he got ready to whack the moles. The game began slowly with one mole popping out of one of the five holes. Penarth whacked the moles one-by-one. Soon the moles began to pop out and disappear at a faster rate. He tried to hit the moles as fast as he could, but was starting to miss some. For a few minutes, his arms swung in semi swift motion trying harder. The moles were then coming out much faster. As he kept going, he felt his arms slowly getting tired and going through little pain. He suddenly heard the bell ring, announcing that the game was over. He dropped his arms and panted quietly, feeling some sweat sliding down his face. They looked to see what the score was and saw that it was seventy-eight out of one hundred.

"That's very impressive for somepony like you." Rainbow Dash said, intrigued with his quick reflexes. "Nopony else can be that fast."

"Well, a knight does have to have good reflexes and a sharp eye..." he said still panting. "It's your turn."

"Alright! Watch the pro!" She paid for the next round of the game and picked up the mallet.

Penarth kept a good eye on her arms.

As the game began, Rainbow Dash whacked the moles that were popping out one after the other at first. "This is like the warming up part for me." She continued hitting the moles. Slowly, the level of speed in the game began to increase. As the moles slowly started to pop out faster, she hit all of them. After a while, many moles were popping out of the five holes at fast speed, but Rainbow Dash was capable of whacking every single one of them.

Penarth was quite surprised as how calm she was while doing the game at the harder levels. He watched her arms move around swiftly without slowing down.

The bell rang calling game over. The score was shown as one hundred out of one hundred.

"Ha!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "They don't call me Rainbow DASH for nothing!"

"Wow! You're amazing at this!" he said, very impressed.

"Thanks! What's your challenge for me?" she asked for the next game to play.

He looked around seeing what game he was great at to play next with her. He then saw a crossbow shooting gallery. "I challenge you to a game of crossbow shooting!" he replied pointing to the shooting gallery.

She laughed. "Alright! I'll accept that!"

"I have to warn you," he said to her smirking. "I'm a pretty good archer. Llanfair taught us how to shoot professionally."

"Pfft!" she scoffed. "Anyone can shoot a bow. I'll show you." She walked over to the shooting gallery with Penarth following her. They saw that the targets had four circles on each one: the red was the in the center as the bull's-eye, the yellow was the second around the red, the white was third, and the black was the last and biggest circle on the target. Rainbow Dash paid for the first round and acquired three arrows for the crossbow. She slipped one arrow in, putting back the bow string until there was a click, locking the string and arrow in position. The goal was to see if one of them could get the highest points by hitting the bull's-eye of the target or get close enough to it. Rainbow Dash held the crossbow and aimed at the target carefully. When she thought she had her target in sight, she pulled the trigger releasing the arrow at a swift speed. The first arrow pierced the white circle of the target.

Penarth chuckled. "You were saying?"

She stammered quietly. "Uh… uh… it was the wind! Yeah! The wind blew the arrow to the side!"

He rolled his eyes. "There hasn't been any wind since this morning."

"I know I'll get it this time!" She slipped the second arrow in and aimed at the target again. She pulled the trigger, and the arrow flew into the yellow circle. She groaned in frustration and smacked her face with her hoof. "Oh, come on!" she exclaimed angrily. She slipped in the final arrow and REALLY carefully aimed. "Come on you stupid arrow… Don't fail me now…" She pulled the trigger and the arrow flew. The arrow pierced the center getting Rainbow Dash a bull's-eye. "Oh my gosh…! I did it! Yes! I got a bull's-eye! I got a bull's-eye!" She hopped up and down laughing in glee.

"Congratulations." Penarth said. "It's my turn now."

"Beat that!"

"Alright. I will beat it." He paid for the next round and got the same amount of arrows Rainbow Dash got from before. He slipped one into the crossbow and aimed. He pulled the trigger and the first arrow flew into the bull's-eye.

Rainbow Dash dropped her jaw and gasped loudly seeing how he made a perfect shot on his first try. "Lucky shot…" she grumbled, forming a pouting face. "I know you won't get the next one." She heard the second arrow being shot and striking the target with a thud. She looked and saw that the second too struck the red dot. "Okay! Another lucky shot!" she said getting a little agitated. "There's no way you'll get the third one into that red spot! There isn't enough room left for the last one to fit into it!"

Penarth slipped the third and final arrow into the crossbow. He turned to Rainbow Dash and smirked. "There's always a way." he said. Without looking, he shot the arrow to the target, splitting one of the arrows in half and pierced the red circle on the target. He saw that her face was suddenly turned into a stunning expression with her eyes completely widened, her pupils as tiny as grapes, and her jaw dropping halfway down to her knees. "I got the bull's-eye didn't I?" he asked her. He knew he wouldn't get an answer since she was in so much shock. He turned to the target and saw all three arrows in the bull's-eye but one that was split in half. He chuckled. "Well, I guess I did get it." He let go of the crossbow, moving towards Rainbow Dash. He closed her jaw and chuckled. "Want to call it even?"

She hung her head down and sighed. She looked up with a smile. "Yeah. Even Steven." They both bumped their hooves together as a peace act. "So, what do you wanna do now?" she asked.

"Let's play some more games. But let's not try to get too competitive, alright?"

"Alright."

They continued on to play other carnival games, satisfying each other with their senses of fun and being good sports.

. . .

After a couple of hours, the fours knights and mares plus Twilight and Spike met back at the castle. They all had smiles on their faces, each knowing that the others had a great time. When they all got together again, they all looked at Llanfair and Pinkie Pie. They saw that he got his face painted as a rabbit's face. His face was white with little red painted on his cheeks, his nose was painted black with painted on whiskers, and front buckteeth were painted underneath his bottom lip. They all started to snicker quietly, but then began to laugh loudly at him.

Llanfair rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. Laugh it up, laugh it up."

"Does the bunny want a carrot?" Rhayader asked him still laughing.

"I would never expect a knight to do somethin' that silly!" Applejack said laughing tears out.

Pinkie Pie giggled. "I think it looks very cute, don't you agree Llanfair?"

He blushed a bit and turned his head. "I guess… Besides getting my face painted, Pinkie Pie showed me the candy stands and the rides. And you guys have got to believe me, the rides were awesome! I never had that much fun in years!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down happily. "He was screaming like a maniac when we were on the roller coaster! When we got off the ride, his body was shaking crazy like pair of cymbals!"

Applejack smiled. "Well, Rhayader and I went to the county fair."

"Applejack, the moment I heard about a county fair being opened here at the Gala, you were the first thing that came to my mind." Rarity said.

"Somethin' kinda different was happenin' there. A lot of ponies were doin' somethin' called riverdancin'. It's some sort of ancient tap dancin', so Rhayader and I gave it a try, and boy howdy, that was the best dancin' we've ever seen and done!"

"Applejack was actually doing better than I was, even though I've done riverdancing before." Rhayader said honestly.

"Aw shucks!" Applejack said, patting his shoulders. "You're too kind." she turned to Rainbow Dash and Penarth. "What did ya'll do?"

"Rainbow Dash and I went to play some of the new carnival's games." Penarth replied. "She beat me at whack-a-mole."

"Yeah, he even beat me at the crossbow shooting gallery." Rainbow Dash added. "After those two games, we decided to call it even and played some more games together."

"I think you beat me at more of the games. I think you had them in the bag." he said

"Well you were pretty skilled with some of the other games we played." she replied. "You were a lot of fun to compete with."

He chuckled. "Thank you Rainbow Dash. You were a lot of fun too."

"Hey Rarity, what did you and Tregaron do?" she asked them.

"We just took a stroll together while I was showing off my new dress and Tregaron was kind enough to get me a drink." Rarity answered.

"She and I talked for a while, talking about some stuff that happened in the past." Tregaron added. "Well… I was talking about my past most of the time."

"And what a past you had." Rarity smiled.

"I'm very happy that all of you had a wonderful time with each other." Twilight said.

"What did you and Spike do then?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, we went to a few attractions, nothing really special." she replied.

"What about that gem you won me?" Spike asked.

She giggled. "Oh yeah, funny story about that."

"What happened?" Llanfair asked.

"Twilight and I found this little psychic game to see if the customer could really be a psychic." Spike explained. "And if you won first prize, you get a red gemstone."

"I'm guessin' she won, right?" Applejack asked, smiling.

"You bet!" he replied with a big smile. "Even the owner was really surprised that somepony had actually won first place! Man, that gem was so scrumptious." He rubbed his belly with gem inside.

"Let's go find Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie giggled. "I bet she has a lot to tell us!"

Rarity smiled. "Being with Yorkshire all evening, I believe she will have something to tell us."

"Isn't Knighton with Princess Luna?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh yeah!" Twilight said. "He'll have a lot to tell us too!"

"What are we all standin' 'round here for?!" Applejack asked everyone.

They all entered the castle together in hopes to find Fluttershy, Yorkshire, and Knighton. One of the royal guards was waiting for their return.

"Princess Celestia wishes for a meeting with the knights." the guard said. "Those they choose to bring with are also invited to attend."

"Girls," Llanfair said to the mares. "would you be interested in coming with us to this meeting?"

The girls nodded without hesitation.

Llanfair nodded back and turned to the guard. "These ladies will be coming with us to this meeting. What business does the princess have with us? I know she sent us a message to come here after our battle, but she did not explain why."

"I'm afraid do not know what she will have in store for you gentlecolts." the guard replied. "Come this way." He walked on, leading them where the meeting would take place.

"I wonder what Princess Celestia wants to talk to the knights about." Twilight whispered to Rarity.

"I'm curious about that too." she whispered back. "It might be of great importance."

"There's only one way to find out then."

The followed the guard through the castle hall to attend the meeting for the knights with the high princess of Equestria.


	8. The Good News

Chapter 8

The guard led the knights and mares to another large pair of doors. The doors opened, revealing a smaller throne room. There, they saw the two princesses, Knighton, Yorkshire, and Fluttershy waiting for them. They entered the room walking towards the steps where the princesses were standing above.

Princess Celestia gave them a warm welcoming smile.

The guard, the mares and knights all bowed before her.

"Welcome to my council room, where all of my private meetings take place." Celestia said.

"Thank you your majesty." Llanfair replied. "May I ask for what business you have bringing us here?"

"What do you wish to discuss with us?" Yorkshire asked.

"I have wonderful news to tell you." she started. "Knighton has told me about your victory against a dark army. Your story has moved me dearly. Your courage and dedication to protect those in need are just what we need here in Canterlot."

The knights wondered what she was talking about. They all looked at each other and suddenly had the same thought. They all showed each other excitement within their eyes.

"How would you and your comrades like to become my royal knights?" she asked with a proud smile.

The knights couldn't help but suddenly cheer and laugh happily hearing her offer to becoming top ranked knights.

"Oh Yorkshire, I'm so happy for you!" Fluttershy exclaimed, hugging him tight. "You'll do wonderful as a royal knight!"

He chuckled. "Thanks Fluttershy. I always have you to support me."

"This is gonna be so awesome!" Tregaron said in glee.

"Yeah!" Llanfair agreed. "I've always had the thought of myself becoming a knight for a royal figure!"

"We thank you for your wish for us to become your knights, your highness." Knighton said. He turned to the other knights. "Boys, shall we accept it?" he asked them.

"Yeah!" the knights all shouted happily.

He laughed. "Very well then! Princess Celestia, we would be honored of becoming your royal knights!"

The mares cheered and whooped louder. Pinkie Pie was hooping up and down like crazy from all of the excitement.

"Wonderful!" Celestia said. "It is with great pleasure as the eldest princess to announce that all of you as of today are royal knights of Canterlot!"

The knights bowed to Celestia as a thank you. The girls walked over to them and congratulated them loudly and cheerfully.

"We're very happy for you fellas!" Applejack said, patting Rhayader's shoulder. "Ya'll are gonna do a great job as royal knights!"

Rhayader laughed. "I hope so."

Knighton turned to Celestia. "We thank you for the title, your majesty. We will always pledge our allegiance to you."

"You are most welcome Sir Knighton." she said. "As royal knights, you will be staying here in Canterlot from now on."

"Thank you your highness." He bowed to her.

The other four bowed to her but Yorkshire, showing a look of dissatisfaction.

Celestia looked to Yorkshire who was still standing. "Sir Yorkshire," the princess said with pity in her tone. "you seem disappointed. Is something wrong?"

He let out a quiet sigh. "Forgive me your majesty, I appreciate the offer for letting me stay here as well as my companions but I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

Everypony gasped, hearing somepony declining Princess Celestia's wishes for the first time.

Tregaron smacked Yorkshire in the back of the head, making him wince in pain.

"Yorkshire, you're not making any sense!"

"Yes I am!" Yorkshire exclaimed. He looked back to Celestia. "I am sorry ma'am, but I do not wish to stay in a place that will keep me from seeing somepony that I truly care about."

The princess immediately understood what he meant. He looked over to the mares, looking at Fluttershy. She knew that he was talking about her. The thought of being far from somepony he loved would be depressing. She looked back down at him and smiled.

"I understand."

"You do?"

"Yes. You do not have to stay here, but the gates of Canterlot are always welcome to you."

He showed a relieving smile. "Thank you so much your majesty." He gave her a deep bow in gratitude.

"Wait." Knighton said. "If he's not going to stay, then I won't either."

"What in Sam hill are ya talkin' about?" Applejack asked.

"I'm not going to let my little brother stay in a town all alone." he replied chuckling. "With all due respect your highness, us knights stick together. We watch each others flanks if we're in any trouble. We're a team."

The other knights looked at each other with confusion.

"Should we join him…?" Tregaron whispered to Rhayader.

He shrugged. "He is the leader after all." he whispered back. "We might as well go along with it. Besides, I do like the barn. It's very warm in there."

"Aw… I kind of wanted to stay here." Tregaron complained.

"Oh, don't be such a filly."

"So all of you do not wish to stay?" Celestia asked.

They all nodded slowly.

"Sticking together and watching each other's flanks." she said. "That is something I would want to see in knights like you. I will respect your wishes and let you stay in Ponyville."

"Applejack?" Yorkshire asked.

"Yes?" she replied.

He chuckled nervously. "Is it alright if we stay at the old barn a little longer just until we find a house?"

She gave him a generous smile. "Ya'll can stay there as long as ya want. We don't have any plans to use that old place for anythin' yet."

Pinkie Pie looked up and saw a large clock above the throne that said eleven o'clock. "Hey look! The big hand is on the twelve and the small hand is on the eleven!"

"Oh!" Knighton exclaimed. "It's around that time we should be getting back." He bowed to Princess Celestia once more. "Please forgive us your highness. It is about time we left and rest."

Celestia nodded. "I was just about to end the meeting anyways. Thank you so much for coming to the Grand Galloping Gala. We hope that all of you had a wonderful time."

"We sure did, Princess." Twilight said. "Thank you so much for inviting all of us."

"And we also thank you for giving us the honor to be your royal knights." Yorkshire said. "We will be honored to serve you, your grace."

"I will send a letter to Spike and have him deliver it to you if I am in need of your presence." Celestia said. "Have a safe trip back to Ponyville and goodnight!"

"Goodnight your majesties!" the mares and knights said and bowed in unison.

Yorkshire turned to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, may I have the honor to walk you home?" he asked.

Fluttershy blushed and smiled back. "I would love that… Sir Yorkshire." she replied.

They all walked towards the exit of the council room. Knighton felt a tap on his flank, making him halt. He turned around to see Princess Luna close to him.

"Thank you so much for spending time with me." Luna said with a blush. "I've never had company with anypomny else but my sister."

He smiled and gently nuzzled her cheek. "The pleasure was mine, Princess." he replied.

"Will I… ever see you again?"

"Of course you will. I too hope to see you again."

"That wonderful dance, being together and having little chit-chats, I've never been so happy before in my entire life…" She gently gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you…"

He blushed and had no intention to hide it. "I promise to visit you very soon."

"Or maybe I can visit you during the night." she whispered. "We would have the nights all to ourselves with no one around."

He let out a quiet chuckle. "That is a nice idea. I could watch you raise the moon."

"Oh, I would just love that!" She gave him a bigger smile with excitement.

"I bid thee farewell, Princess Luna." he said, kissing her hoof.

"Good-bye Knighton." she said. "I hope to see you soon."

Knighton turned around and walked to the exit where everypony else was waiting for him. Together they left; never to forget the great time they all had together at the Grand Galloping Gala.

. . .

Later while everypony else was heading back to their homes, Yorkshire and Fluttershy walked together back to her cottage like he promised. They approached the front door, and looked at each other with loving eyes.

"Thank you for walking me home." Fluttershy said. "I get a little nervous when I walk alone at night."

"No problem." he replied. "I had a great time with you at the Gala. Thank you so much for asking me to come with you." He kissed her cheek to show her his gratitude.

She blushed and giggled. "I had a wonderful time with you too. Thank you for accepting my invitation and thank you for this wonderful night." She kissed his cheek back, making him bush as well. She opened her cottage door and walked inside. "Goodnight Yorkshire." she whispered, speaking her final words to him for the night.

"Goodnight Fluttershy." he replied. "Have pleasant dreams."

She giggled once more and closed the door.

He sighed happily as he galloped away from the cottage. "This has got to be the best night in my entire life." he said to himself, and went on to return to the barn.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy walked upstairs into her bedroom to get ready for bed. She slipped off her Gala dress and climbed into bed. She blew out the candle on her nightstand that lit her room, making it dark. She rested her head on her soft pillow and closed her eyes. In her head were deep thoughts of the magical time with Yorkshire at the Gala. She soon fell into deep sleep and began to dream about her knight in shining armor for the rest of the peaceful and quiet night.


	9. A New Plot is Revealed

Hundreds of miles away from the land of Equestria was a dark and lifeless land, nothing but dirt and ash blowing around by the wind. The rocky terrains were jagged, and the air was cold as death. It was the land where the dark army was formed. Underneath the land was a lair of fire. There lurked an evil warlock who was responsible for the destruction of towns and for the many deaths of innocent stallions, mares, colts and fillies. His name was Komodo; a vicious lizard with hard green and black scales, long razor sharp teeth, and bright red and yellow eyes. He was the creator of the army. He wore armor underneath his dark torn cloak. In the lair, he waved his hands around a floating glowing orb. Streams of dark mist swirled around them as he spoke incantations of a dark language, only to be learned through black magic. Whispering the rare words, he looked into the orb and saw the land of Equestria.

"Find them…" Komodo whispered in a dark hissing voice. "Find any survivors who helped defeat my warriors…"

The orb glowed and then faded, revealing an image of Yorkshire walking back to the barn.

"One of them…" He was suddenly filled with rage looking at the smiling knight. He slashed the orb with his sharp claws in a loud screech, making it disappear into mist. He turned away and walked to his rock throne. He sat down and growled quietly. "How could a bunch of four legged creatures defeat my army of warriors…? My soldiers had everything… They had strength, agility, thirst for blood… I used up all of my magic to attempt to take over Equestria. Now I am weak." He stood up from his throne and walked around with many thoughts in his head. "I will not be made a fool… I will not tolerate this defeat!" He wandered over to a large pit of spewing fire and stood over it looking down. "I will soon regain all of my powers. When I do, I will once again do what it takes to take over the land they call Equestria. All of the ponies will be under my command; nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. The land will soon be dark and dead. But first, I need those knights out of the way." He strolled around the pit of fire with a new plot being planned in his mind. "I could send a couple of new warriors to do the job, but that would bring out suspicion from the citizens…" He continued to think of plans but found more flaws for minutes. He snapped his fingers, hatching an idea and grinned. "Everyone has a weakness. All I need to do is find a weakness from a couple of the knights and use it against them. But what are their weaknesses?" He pressed his hands together, closing his eyes. He moved them apart from each other creating a small glow in between his hands, beginning to whisper the dark language again.

The glow grew bigger, turning into another bright orb.

"Show me…" he whispered. "Show me the knights and the ones who have the weakest links."

The orb revealed all of the knights resting in the barn. It then showed two images of Knighton and Yorkshire next, revealing them to have the strongest weaknesses.

He grinned and chuckled viciously. "Good, good. Now then, show me their weaknesses… show me what they fear or care about the most."

The orb glowed once again. The glowing faded, revealing a yellow coated Pegasus mare and an Alicorn mare with a dark purple coat both sleeping in their own beds in their homes.

He laughed quietly revealing his teeth. "So… their loves for these mares are their weaknesses." He clapped his hands together making the orb disappear in mist. "All I have to do is to get my claws on those mares, bring them here and use them as bait. That will then lure the knights to come here. After that…" He slid his claw across his throat showing a sign of death. "Once the knights are out of the way, I will wait for my full powers to return and create a much bigger and stronger army! And then… Equestria will be mine…"


	10. A Flower Under Moonlit Skies

The next day, Knighton was anxious to see his new love, Princess Luna again. From that night, his heart thrived in happiness once again. All night he dreamed about Luna and nothing else. He was lying on his pile of hay in the barn, wondering about his future with the fair princess of the night. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, disrupting his thoughts. He shook his head to focus back into the real world. "Huh..? What…? Come in!" he exclaimed.

Sliding the door open came in Twilight and Spike. "Knighton? Are you in here?" she asked, looking around.

"I'm right here." Knighton replied, showing himself to her.

"Sorry if we were disturbing your napping." Spike said.

"Actually, I wasn't napping at all. Is there something you need?"

"Actually, no." Twilight replied. "The truth is, we got a letter from Princess Celestia, but it's addressed to you."

Spike walked over to Knighton, giving him the letter. "We don't know why Princess Celestia would send a letter to you."

"Perhaps it's the first assignment as a royal knight." Knighton answered. He opened the letter. "To my knight in shining armor…" he read. "This isn't from Celestia…" He slowly formed a smile on his face. "This is from Luna!"

Twilight showed a confused look on her face. "This is the first time Luna sent us a letter." she thought to herself out loud. "I guess she didn't know how else to send the letter to you."

"Ooh! Read more, Knighton!" Spike said, jumping up and down with excitement. "Tell us what she wrote!"

Knighton replied with a nod and continued to read. "To my knight in shining armor, I wait to see you again, but I can wait no longer. My heart lusts to look upon your beautiful ocean eyes. The night we met felt so magical to me. Being with you fills me with happiness and love. Please come to the Canterlot Palace tonight when the moon is full. I shall meet you in the royal courtyard, the perfect place for the perfect couple. It will seem like a thousand years until tonight. Your love, Princess Luna."

"Aw! That's such a sweet letter!" Spike said. "Princess Luna must be head over hooves for you!"

Knighton sighed happily. "And I am for her. I must go to the castle tonight to see her again!"

"Hold on a sec." Twilight intervened. "Spike and I used to live in Canterlot. We've seen the castle at night. It's heavily guarded. There's no way you could get in without special permission."

"Can't this letter be the special permission?" Spike asked, pointing to Knighton's letter.

"The chances of that love letter being an invitation to the castle are very slim." she replied.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take. Nothing will separate me and my princess." Knighton said in a bold pose.

She sighed, but smiled, seeing his confidence. "I have to admit, things do go well when it comes to love, just like with Fluttershy and your brother."

Knighton laughed. "Yes. They do make a cute couple, don't they?"

She giggled. "Yes, they do. Fluttershy seems so comfortable with him. It's as if he was meant for her. I'm very happy for her. I hope it'll be the same for you and Princess Luna."

"Me too. Thank you for bringing this letter to me, both of you."

"No problem!" Spike said. "Anything to help a friend in love!"

Knighton slowly stood up from his pile of hay and stretched out his legs. "Now, if you two will excuse me, I must get ready for tonight."

"But it's only one o'clock." Twilight said. "You'll have plenty of time to get ready for tonight."

"There's no trouble of getting a good early start, is there?"

She thought about his opinion for a few seconds and shrugged. "I guess not. Oh well, do what you want. We'll see you later."

"Yeah." Spike agreed, starting to follow her out. "Good luck with tonight, Knighton! Rarity's hoping that there's going to be a wedding!"

"Spike!" she exclaimed.

"What? That's what she said last night." he said.

Knighton chuckled. "If you see her, tell her I said don't give up hope!"

Spike laughed and gave him a thumbs up. "The message will be delivered as soon as we see her! See ya!" He and Twilight walked out of the barn together.

Knighton looked down at the letter and smiled. "A letter from the princess herself…" he thought. "Can she really be my next love…?" He looked to his bag, where his late fiancé's bracelet was. "Should I give it to her…?"

. . .

Meanwhile at the castle in Canterlot in her room, Princess Luna laid on her bed cuddling with one of her large pillows, blushing and giggling. Thinking about her knight made her stomach tickle and blush nonstop. "Oh Knighton…" she said to herself, sighing deeply. "How I wait to be in your arms again…" She then heard quiet hoof steps entering her room and stopped. She heard a quiet giggle.

"Daydreaming about your boyfriend I see." a soft voice said.

Luna quickly sat up and saw Celestia standing below the top of the door with a smile on her face. "He's not my boyfriend!" she exclaimed, blushing with embarrassment. "Well… not yet…"

Celestia walked over to her and sat down with her on the bed. "I'm very happy that you're moving on with your life after what had happened." she said.

Luna looked down and frowned a bit. "Yes… but I'm… still very sorry about what happened a thousand years ago…"

Celestia gave her a gentle hug. "It's okay sweetie…" she whispered, patting her little sister's back. "I have forgiven you. All you can do now is move on. Think about your future."

Luna looked up to her and smiled. "I have been thinking about my future," she said. "the future of me and Knighton. I've already had some possibilities about us."

"Like getting married and having a family?" Celestia asked, giggling.

Luna nodded slowly, blushing. "Yes…" she replied. "Is it alright to think about that?"

"Of course it is." Celestia answered. "It's a lot of fun thinking about stuff like this about the pony you love, isn't it?"

"Of course... Hey Celestia, do you mind if I'm left alone please?" Luna asked, grinning.

Celestia nodded. She got up from the bed and started to walk out. "I hope that you see him again." she said before leaving. "I am relieved that you have found happiness again."

Luna giggled. "Thank you, sister." She watched Celestia walk out through the door. She quickly closed the door using her magic from her horn. She got back to cuddling with her big pillow. She started to blush and giggle again. "Oh Knighton," she said to the pillow like it was her lover. "you fill my heart with such joy!" She looked out her window from her bed, seeing the sun high in the sky. She slowly let out a groan of impatience and regret. "Why did I set the time for the meeting for tonight…?"

As the hours slowly passed, the sun was slowly setting along with the hours. Soon it was a little after dark. More guards were summoned for watching the perimeter of the castle for the night. Being responsible for raising the moon, Luna flew out of her room up high into the sky. As soon as she was hovering over all of Equestria, she made her horn glow bright enough to be seen like a star. With her powers, she slowly raised the moon from the east and placed it high above Equestria. She looked down to the castle and saw dozens of guards standing on the walls and by the gates.

"Oh dear…" she thought with worry. "With that many guards, they'll never let him in. Unless…" She flew down to the castle only to hover over it. Without being seen by the guards, she released sparkling powder from her wings over them. One by one, the guards slowly fell asleep after the powder touched them. She flew around the castle without being seen and continued to place every guard she could find under her sleeping spell.

. . .

Meanwhile back at Sweet Apple Acres, the knights were sleeping quietly in their piles of hay. Knighton however was waiting or his comrades to be completely out cold until he could leave without waking them up. He knew that the time was perfect after Rhayader began to snore loudly. Usually his snoring woke them up if they weren't completely asleep. Knighton slowly got up and quietly crept to the barn door. He slid the large door open, walked out, and closed the door behind him. He looked up at the moon and the glistening stars, smiling and letting out a happy sigh. "I'm coming my love…" he said. He began to gallop away from the barn to Canterlot.

A little while later, he reached the gates of the castle. As he approached the entrance, he noticed that the guards there were asleep. He approached one of the sleeping guards curiously. He gently tapped one against the helmet. "Hello…?" Knighton asked quietly. "Anypony home?" He continued to try waking up the guard, but it was no use. "Huh… that's just weird… oh well." He moved away from guard and entered the castle. He passed more guards who were also asleep. "Okay… this just keeps getting weirder and weirder…" he thought. He continued to walk through until he reached a large area filled with thousands different varieties of flowers. Trees also surrounded the area, growing different kinds of fruit. He knew that he found the courtyard. In the center was a large running water fountain with the two princesses carved out of stone standing on top, shooting out water into the fountain from their mouths. "Wow… Luna was right… This is the perfect place for the perfect couple." He suddenly heard hoof steps coming towards him.

"Knighton…?" a soft voice asked.

He turned around, discovering that it was Princess Luna. His heart began to beat faster just after looking at her. "Luna!" he exclaimed, smiling big. He galloped to her and both nuzzled with affection.

"I missed you so much." Luna said, moving closer to him.

"I missed you too." Knighton replied, feeling his muzzle touching her flowing blue mane. "Hey Luna, when I got here, I noticed that all the guards were asleep. What's going on?"

She giggled. "I placed them under a spell to sleep until the dawning of the sun."

He looked at her with shock. "You did that? Why?"

"So that no one can disrupt our time together." she replied, blushing.

Knighton smiled and kissed her cheek. "You little rascal." he said, chuckling.

She gave him a small smile. "I want this night to be perfect for us. We have the night all to ourselves and no one to bother us."

"Aww… you're such a sweet thing." he said.

She giggled. "Shall we take a little stroll through the little forest?" she asked.

They started to walk together through the large courtyard admiring the mysteriously loving mood of the forest in the night. The moon above them lit up the path that they were walking on. As they walked, they began to talk more. They told each other small stories that they read in books.

They then looked around the gardens full of the flowers and smelled them. Luna picked a bright yellow flower and gave it to Knighton. "Here Knighton. This will look nice in your mane." she said.

"What is it?"

"This is called a moonflower. These are my favorite." She slipped the flower stem in his mane.

He chuckled. "Thank you Luna. This is a very beautiful flower." he kissed her cheek.

She blushed. "You're welcome Knighton."

They continued to walk after a while being together. Luna looked up to him. She could feel her bond with Knighton growing, never wanting to part with him. The more she was by his side, the more she felt passion for him. She saw him turn his head to her with a smile.

"Luna." Knighton said.

"Yes?"

"What's it like living here?"

"It's alright here." she replied. "However…"

"Yes?"

"It can feel a little lonely here…" she said, sighing quietly. "There really isn't anyone here to talk to. My sister is the only one I can speak to. When the servants and guards look at me, I can see fear in their eyes. They still see me as the evil mare I was before…" She started to sniffle. "I'm tired of being afraid by others. I don't want to be shunned again…." She stopped walking and began to weep while hanging her head down. "I don't want you to be afraid of me either… You're the second pony who has ever accepted me…"

He looked at her cry and took pity. He walked up to her and raised her head with his hoof under her chin until their faces were close to each other as they looked into each other's eyes. "My dear princess…" he said with a soft voice. "I have never seen your evil form with my eyes. I have only heard stories about what had happened. I have no reason to fear you."

She looked at him with surprise with tears flowing down her cheeks. "You mean it…?" she asked, sniffling.

"Of course I do. You mean so much to me. I don't want you to be all alone in this world. I'll always be by your side. I will never betray you. I'll always care for you."

Hearing his honest words, she rubbed her head against his neck. "I believe in your words Knighton… I feel the same way…" she said. She looked up at him with sparkles in her eyes. "Knighton…"

"Yes?"

She blushed brightly thinking about what she wanted to do next. "Will you… kiss me…?"

He widened his eyes in surprise and blushed. "W-what…?"

"I want to feel the warmth of your lips. I want to feel your love. I want you to feel my love." she replied desperately.

Knighton looked into her lusting eyes and down to her small blue lips. "How could I say no to the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria?" he said. He slowly closed his eyes.

Luna closed her eyes as well. They both slowly moved their heads towards each other. A second later, their lips were locked in a kiss. With their warm lips touching each other, they felt their body temperatures rise, their hearts beating faster than ever. Knighton felt his legs go wobbly, but managed to keep them under control. Feeling the warmth of her lips dried up the inside of his mouth. For Luna, feeling warmth from his lips made her become a little woozy in the head. But both felt the love they had for each other. They slowly broke the kiss, and Luna let out a heavy sigh with little shuddering, wearing a smile.

"That was wonderful…!" Luna said, still dizzy from the kiss.

Knighton chuckled. "That was a very nice kiss." he said.

She rested her head against his neck. "Thank you so much for coming tonight." she said. "I enjoy being with you so much."

He gently rested his chin in her mane. "As do I Luna. As do I."

They walked over to the fountain and sat on the wide edge. They looked down at the water looking at each other's reflection wiggling by the ripples of the water.

"Knighton? After that kiss we just had, do you think we're taking this relationship a little too quickly?" she asked with a little worry in her tone.

"I don't think so." he replied. "You ever read any of those fairy tales with knights and princesses falling in love at first sight?"

"Yes, I have."

"Our relationship is like that." He said, nuzzling her, making her giggle. "I have no problem with it at all."

She scooted closer to him until their bodies touched. She wrapped his arms around him starting to cuddle with him.

Knighton wrapped his around her back.

They both looked up seeing the moon shine brightly upon them and the glistening lights of the stars. They caught their eyes on a shooting star that swiftly flew across the sky.

"Ooh! A shooting star!" Luna said, pointing it out. "Make a wish!"

"Let's share it." Knighton suggested.

They both closed their eyes, and began to wish.

"I wish Knighton will love me forever…" Luna thought in her head.

"I wish Luna will love me forever…" Knighton thought in his head.

They both opened their eyes and looked at each other. They both smiled and hugged each other.

"I hope your friends aren't worried about you." she said.

"They're completely asleep." he said. "They can't even wake up from Rhayader's snoring."

She giggled. "Celestia's usually asleep at this hour. Besides, if she were to wake up, she would not have a problem with me staying up this late since I'm the princess of the night."

He smiled. "That's true, and such a beautiful princess of the night you are."

She blushed. "Thank you. And I think you're the most handsome knight I have ever met."

"I thank you too." He placed one of his hoofs on her cheek and gently stroked it.

She placed her hoof on his that was on her cheek. "Knighton," she said to him. "my knight of red. Another chance I got to meet you again. Your care for me has made me feel loved and well known. You are not at all afraid of me for what I had done all those years ago. You complete me, you know how to make me smile, and you know how to make me happy again. You are my sun as I am your moon. I want to be yours, now and forever. I'll tell you this, and I'll tell you now…" she took a deep breath. "I love you, Sir Knighton the Brave… I love you so with all my heart."

Her words of passion and her confession of her love filled Knighton with joy, as he was suddenly inspired to return his confession the way she did for him. But deep down in his heart, he needed to tell her about the bracelet and his late fiancé.

"I need to tell you something first." he said.

"Please tell me."

Knighton slipped his hoof into his bag and pulled out the bracelet. "This bracelet belonged to a mare that I loved before I met you."

Luna looked at the bracelet with brightened eyes. "It's beautiful…" she whispered. She looked up at him. "You were in love with someone else?"

"Yes, but it was only for a short time." Once more, Knighton's chest felt tighter and tighter as he continued. He began to tell her about his fiancé and how they were to be married when he would return, and then explained how she tragically died when an unknown attack from the dark army killed everyone and destroyed her town.

Luna looked at Knighton with widened and teary eyes as she listened to his horrifying tale.

"And this is all I have left of her." he said, finishing his story.

Luna remained silent for a moment, and broke down in front of him, letting out a quiet cry and a stream of tears down her face.

"I am so sorry…" she whispered, continuing to sob. "It must've been terrible for you…"

"Yes…" he replied. "Which brings us back to the bracelet. Before her death, she said to me, 'If I were to ever die, I want you to take this bracelet and give it to your next lover. Don't think of this as leaving me for another. Think of it as a symbol of undying love'." He let out a quiet but heavy sigh. "I thought I could never love again after what happened to Angel Wings." He looked to Luna and grew a small smile. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "But now I feel the hole in my heart has been filled again after meeting you."

Luna dried her tears and looked up at him. "Really…?"

He nodded. "Luna," he began. "my princess of the night. You have made me whole again. You shall not live your life alone and in sorrow as long as I am around. I will protect you always. Nothing will ever come between us." He took her hoof and slowly slid the bracelet around Luna's front left ankle. "It is now my turn to tell you… that I too love you, Princess Luna."

Luna's ears could not have been deceived when hearing his words of passion to her. She looked down at the beautiful bracelet around her ankle, seeing it shimmer under the moonlight. She let out the happiest sigh she had ever made as her eyes filled with tears; not tears of sadness, but tears of joy.

Knighton wiped her eyes and kissed her deeply. Luna moved deeper into the kiss, expressing more of her love to him.

For the rest of the night, they laid under the moon and stars in the flower field, cuddling close to one another. It would be another night to never forget, for it was the beginning of their dreams of unity to become reality to the world.


	11. Komodo's Scheme: Phase One

It was time for Knighton to return to Ponyville to sleep with his little brother and his knights before the break of dawn. Luna walked with him to the gates of the castle.

"Luna, I had a wonderful time with you tonight." Knighton said smiling to her.

"I did too." Luna replied as she leaned her head into his neck.

They reached to the exit of the castle and stopped. They heard quiet snoring and turned to where the guards were still sleeping from Luna's spell.

Knighton chuckled quietly. "You did a wonderful job with that spell of yours. How much longer are they going to be asleep?"

She giggled. "Don't worry. They'll wake up in a couple of hours and won't realize that they were asleep at all." She gave him a hug and then a kiss. "Thank you so much for coming tonight. You've made this the second best night of my life."

He smiled and kissed her back. "I feel the same."

"I wish you could stay just a little longer. But I wouldn't want the guards to catch you when the spell wears off."

"But alas I cannot," he spoke in a humorous theatric tone. "for it is time that I must depart and sleep in my warm hay bed so that I am not tired and cranky in the morning."

She laughed a little. "Well, I hope to not see you in a grumpy mood later. I will let you go now, but I will surely miss your company."

"I will miss yours as well, my love." Before going, he gave her one final passionate kiss for the night. "I love you." he whispered.

Her cheeks lightly blushed. "I love you too." she whispered back.

"I promise to see you again soon."

"I know you will."

Knighton turned from her and began to gallop away from the castle. Luna had never felt such love before in her life in a thousand years.

"Knighton," she thought to herself. "return home safely." She turned, facing the castle and flew up to the balcony of her room to sleep.

. . .

Meanwhile in the flaming lair of the warlock lizard Komodo, he watched Luna enter her room through his magical orb from his throne. He watched her jump into her bed with a big smile and giggled. "I know I'm going to marry him someday!" Komodo heard and watched her say. He grinned devilishly at the orb with his razor sharp teeth revealed. "That's right princess…" he said viciously. "Sleep well and dream, for your dream will soon become a nightmare." He began to laugh, swishing the orb away into mist. He stood up from his throne and slowly walked towards his large pit of fire. He stood over the pit and looked down at the roaring flames underneath him. "I can feel that my powers are slowly returning. Now is the time to act." He pulled out a knife from behind his back and raised his other arm above the fire. He took the knife and pressed the blade against his palm. He slowly slit his palm, forcing him to bleed. He grinned as he growled in pain. He then gripped his hand into a fist, causing five drops of his black blood to fall into the flames. He then began to speak incantations in the dark language.

From the flames, five black clouds of mist flew up from the pit and flew around Komodo. They flew to the other side of the pit and touched the ground, starting to change their forms. The mists began to shape into the warriors of Komodo's lizard army. The five warriors had bright bloodthirsty eyes with scales the color of brown and black. Their bodies were shaped to be muscular and strong with sharp claws and long spiky tails. They all had a set of weapons: long widened curved swords and shields. After they took their form, they began to hiss and growl viciously revealing to have razor sharp teeth as well.

Komodo looked at them proudly and smirked. "Yes! My warriors have returned!" he roared. He walked over to them, beginning to examine them. He chuckled. "Just like my warriors from before: cruel, vicious, merciless, and hungry for blood. My warriors," he began, speaking to them. "I am your master! You have been brought back from the depths of the underworld to do my bidding! You have been created again to take over this land for ourselves and to get revenge on those who have stood in our way! There are six knights. Pony knights to be exact." he continued. "They are the ones responsible for destroying the last of our army. But they won't be able to stop us this time. For you see, I have a plan that will send them to their doom. You have also been summoned for a special mission. Two of the knights have become attached with these mares." He raised his arms and summoned two magical orbs, one in each hand. In the orbs revealed Fluttershy and Princess Luna.

The lizard warriors looked at the images of the mares with hatred in their eyes. They all hissed ferociously at them. They were also licking their teeth with their long tongues as a sign of hunger.

"Find these two and bring them here unharmed." Komodo said to them. "They will be the ones the knights will come for. When they get here, I want you to kill them in the cruelest way you could possibly imagine. When they are dead, do as you would like witH the mares. Kill them, eat them, do whatever you want with them." he looked to three of the warriors. "You three will bring this princess mare back to me." he said, showing them the orb with Princess Luna. "You will find her in the west tower of the castle. She is also a practitioner of magic so be careful. The only way you can stop her from using magic is to cover her horn using a piece of cloth or whatever." He turned to the other two warriors. "You two will go after this one." he said to them showing them orb of Fluttershy. "You will find her in a small cottage. She'll be easy to capture. She has no abilities to fight back." He made the orbs disappear by swishing them away. "Now find them! Bring them to me unharmed! Kill anyone who stands in your way!"

The lizard warriors roared and hissed ferociously as their battle cries.

He raised his arms once again, but they began to be covered in dark mist. He waved his arms at his warriors making the mist fly towards them. The mist swirled around them swiftly. Suddenly in a bright flash, they disappeared out of thin air. Komodo laughed with pride. "Yes! My powers are coming back! They will be teleported to the locations where they can find the mares shortly. Once I have those knights out of the way, I will rebuild my army again." he thought. "After that, they will once again sweep through the land and Equestria will soon be under my control! Nobody can stop me this time!"

. . .

A black cloud of mist flew across Equestria and headed to Canterlot. As it was flying closer to the castle, it dove down to the gates. When the mist touched the ground, a poof a smoke appeared and faded revealing three of the lizard warriors standing in front of the castle.

"This is where we will find the princess." one said in a dark voice.

"Look over there." a second one said pointing to the sleeping guards. "They're asleep. That'll make our job easier."

"Let's just hurry up." the third one said hastily. "It's almost dawn."

They quickly entered the castle and headed to the west tower where they would find the Princess Luna. Using their sharp claws, they climbed up the stone tower and leaped onto the balcony. They saw that the large glass doors were opened and quietly snuck in. Inside they saw a the moon princess sleeping peacefully in her bed.

"There she is…" the third hissed. "What's the plan?"

The second pulled out a long piece of thick cloth. "We have to wrap this around her horn so that she's powerless." he whispered.

"But what if she wakes up before we do?" the first asked.

The second one gulped in fear. "Say your prayers then…"

They carefully crept up to the sleeping princess and surrounded her around her bed. The second warrior began to carefully wrap the long piece of cloth around her horn. The warriors felt the intensity and stress of the moment. One mistake would cost them their lives. The second warrior continued to wrap the cloth around until the horn was completely covered.

The third sighed quietly. "Good thing that didn't wake her up or we would sure be in-"

Suddenly a cuckooing sound coming from a cuckoo clock began to ring with a little wooden bird going in the clock and coming out chirping loudly.

The beasts gasped quietly in shock. They knew that the sound was going to wake up the princess.

"Quick…! Turn it off…!" the first whispered to the third.

The third rushed over to the clock and tried to find a way to turn it off. "I don't see an off switch…!"

"Well find a way to turn it off and fast…!"

He took the first idea that came to his mind and smashed the clock hard with his fist. The force of the smash managed to turn off the cuckooing, but it made an even louder noise when his fist made impact with the clock. "I got it…!"

The second lizard smacked his own face in embarrassment. "You idiot…"

They heard some quiet mumbling coming from the bed. They all slowly turned to it and saw the princess slowly opening her eyes.

"What's going on…?" Luna said, still dozed off. When her vision came back from sleeping, she saw three large lizard warriors in her room with one of their fists in her cuckoo clock.

"We're dead…"

Luna suddenly let out a terrified scream. "What are you doing in my room?!"

"Grab her!" the first yelled.

Luna tried to use her magic on them, but discovered that she wasn't able to use any. "What's going on?! Why can't I use magic?!" She looked up and saw that her horn was wrapped in cloth. "Oh no!" She looked to the lizards and saw them coming at her. "Just because I can't use magic, doesn't mean I can't use my hooves!" She quickly jumped out of her bed. She turned and bucked one in the chest, making him fly across the room and crashing into the wall. Another one jumped at her, but she moved out of the way seeing him fall to the floor. She landed on his tail, making him yelp in pain. "Get away from me!" she cried. "I'm warning you!"

The third grabbed her from behind. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed. "Tie her up quickly!" He felt her beginning to struggle hard from his grasp.

The second took some rope from his belt and began to tie her up.

"Let go of me right now!" Luna screamed. She kicked the lizard that was tying her in the stomach and his face.

Using one hand, the lizard holding onto Luna wrapped a piece of rope around her muzzle to keep her from screaming again.

Luna continued to struggle from the lizard's grasp. She tried to scream, but the rope around her muzzle kept her from opening her mouth.

The lizard that she kicked in the stomach and head finally managed to tie her legs together and wings. He tied them tightly making Luna squeal loudly. "Stupid mare." he growled. "Let's get her back to the master now."

The warriors got together and the first lizard whistled to the window. Another cloud of black mist flew into the room and swirled around them and made them disappear in a bright flash.

. . .

Meanwhile, another cloud of black mist that contained other two lizard warriors flew to Fluttershy's cottage where they would find the second hostage to take with them. The lizards appeared from the mist and landed on the small stone bridge. The animals that were outside of the cottage saw the lizards and quickly hid from them in fear.

The lizards slowly approached the cottage quietly hissing. They looked up and saw light coming from a closed window on the second floor. They carefully climbed up and peeked through the window without being seen. They saw the yellow coated mare that they were after cuddling in bed with a white bunny.

"I always love warm hugs before going to bed." Fluttershy said to Angel. "They always make me feel safe."

Angel smiled and cuddled with her, making her giggle.

"There she is…" the first whispered to the other, grinning. "Let's just break in and take her. That animal will be of no help to her."

The other nodded and prepared to attack.

"I can't think of anything that would make this night go completely in the opposite direction." Fluttershy said gently rubbing her muzzle against Angel's head. Suddenly she heard a loud crash coming from her window with the sounds of glass shattering. She quickly turned and saw two large lizards in her room looking at her with their sinister looking yellow eyes and showing their sharp teeth. She gasped in fear and quickly climbed out of bed with Angel. "Run Angel!" she screamed. She and Angel fled the room in terror.

The lizard warriors snarled ferociously and went after her.

Fluttershy and Angel climbed down the stairs as fast as they could into the living room. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "What are we going to do?!" She heard loud stomps from upstairs along with vicious growls. The stomps and growls grew louder and louder. Her heart began to race and started to break into sweats. She looked down to Angel and thought of the first thing to do. She quickly shoved him underneath the couch. "Angel, if anything happens to me, get help!" She ran towards the front door. She managed to quickly unlock and open it, but the lizards got into the living room from the second floor. She let out a yelp and flew out.

One of the lizards caught up to her. He leaped up high and grabbed her tail. He yanked her down, forcing her to fall and crash into the grass.

She groaned in pain from the hard impact of the fall. She felt herself being dragged along the ground by the lizard pulling her towards him by her tail. Her legs were being bound with rope. She tried to let out a scream, but her muzzle was quickly tied tightly.

"I got her!" the lizard called out to the other.

The other lizard went over to him and picked up Fluttershy and placed her over his shoulder. "Perfect. Everything's going according to Master Komodo's plan." he said. "This mare and the other one will surely get those knights to try and rescue them. When they do, they're going to be bathing in their own blood."

Fluttershy suddenly realized that he was talking about Yorkshire and the other knights and gasped quietly. "They want to kill Yorkshire and the others?!" she thought. She started to struggle on the lizard's shoulder, but it did no good.

The lizard evilly chuckled at her. "You can't get yourself out of this one, mare." he hissed to her. "You're needed for our master."

From the cottage, Angel peeked out and saw the lizards carry off Fluttershy. He saw tears running down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do get herself out. He then saw a cloud of black mist flying towards them. The mist flew down to them and swirled around them, making them disappear. When they were gone, Angel quickly dashed out of the cottage and went to find the only pony that could save her.


	12. Elements and Swords

While Twilight was asleep, Spike quietly got up from his basket bed and walked downstairs to get a snack. He walked over to the cabinet to see what he could munch on. He yawned with his mouth opened very wide.

"Stupid stomach…" he thought. "Why does it always have to wake me up this morning with the feeling of hunger…?" He reached for the cabinet handle, but suddenly felt a strong gurgling from his stomach. He clenched his stomach and groaned quietly. "Ooooh… I don't know if it's what I ate last night or more hunger sounds…" He let out a loud belch of green fire.

Twilight woke up from the sound of Spike's burp. She groaned in frustration.

"Spike…! Don't burp when somepony's trying to sleep…!" she exclaimed.

Spike looked and saw the fire turning into a scroll. "Hey Twilight! Princess Celestia sent you a letter!"

She let out another groan getting up from bed. "What could be so important to send a letter to me this early…?"

Spike opened the scroll and read it to himself. He made a loud shocking gasp. "Oh no!" he cried.

"What's wrong Spike?" she asked looking down to him.

"Princess Luna's gone missing!" he replied in horror.

"What?! Read what it says to me right now!"

"Twilight, grave news has come upon the kingdom of Canterlot." Spike began. "It gives me such pain and sorrow to inform you that my sister Princess Luna has gone missing. I have discovered that there might have been a struggle in her bedroom, supposing that something or someone has taken her. I also had noticed that the guards have been put to sleep. Please help her! Inform the knights that they have been given this mission to find Luna. I'm very worried about her." He looked up and saw Twilight's face in shock.

"This is terrible!" Twilight said. She quickly gathered some supplies and put them in her traveling bags. "We've got to help Princess Luna!"

"Right!" Spike agreed. He came upstairs and began to pack his stuff as well. "So we're going to tell the knights about the letter?"

"Of course we're going to! Luna's going to the need the knights and us to help her!" She strapped her bags to her body and quickly galloped down to the door.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Spike yelled. He strapped his backpack on and followed her down.

"Get on my back, Spike. We can't waste any time with you running." She felt Spike quickly jumping on her back. She walked out, closing the door behind them and dashed off to Sweet Apple Acres.

"Do you have any idea who might have taken Princess Luna?" Spike asked holding onto her neck.

"I'm afraid I have no clue at all." she replied. "I'm hoping to find out soon."

About ten minutes later, they arrived at the farm. They headed to the barn where the knights were sleeping. Twilight barged in making a loud bang. "Everypony! Wake up!" she screamed.

The knights woke up being startled from the loud bang and screaming. They all turned and saw Twilight and Spike.

"Twilight…? What are you doing here so early… and what's up with the loud entrance…?" Llanfair asked yawning.

"No more sleeping time guys! We've got an emergency!" she replied.

Knighton got up and walked over to a barrel of water. "What's so important that you had to get us up this early…?" he asked, drinking from the barrel.

She gave him a straight face. "If you must know, Princess Celestia sent me a letter saying that Princess Luna has gone missing."

He choked on the water and quickly looked towards her with a shocked look on his face. "What did you just say…?"

The other knights looked to Twilight in surprise as well.

"I knew that would get your attention. Princess Celestia believes that something or someone took her away from her room. She has given this mission to you boys to find and rescue her."

"Then what in the world are we standing around here for?!" Knighton exclaimed. He quickly went over to get his sword. The other knights did the same thing. For it being a rescue mission, they prepared for the worst. They slipped on their belts and then strapped their swords to their sides.

"Twilight, do you have any idea who might've taken Princess Luna?" Yorkshire asked.

She sighed. "I'm afraid we have any ideas." she replied in a depressed tone.

"No matter who did it, we'll save her, for Celestia and my brother."

"Are we ready to head out?" Spike asked the knights.

"I believe we are." Twilight replied. She turned to the knights. "Are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am!" the knights replied.

"Knights!" Knighton called out. "Move out!"

The knights galloped out of the barn from Knighton first to Yorkshire last. Twilight and Spike followed behind.

"Hang on my love!" Knighton thought. "I'm coming to save you!"

Out of nowhere, a white rabbit suddenly jumped out of the bushes right in front of him.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, trying to brake. When he stopped, he felt Llanfair crash into his back, then Penarth into Llanfair, then Tregaron into Penarth, Rhayader into Tregaron, and then Yorkshire into Rhayader. They were all in a big pileup, groaning in pain.

Twilight slowed down and saw the knights on the ground. "What are you guys doing?! Get up so we can save Princess Luna!"

"We would, but Knighton stopped for no reason and we crashed into him!" Llanfair replied.

"Something did stop me!" Knighton said. "This white rabbit got in the way and I didn't want to step on it!"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "A white rabbit?" he looked and saw the white rabbit hopping up and down, waving its arms fast as if it was in some sort of panic. "Hey! That's Fluttershy's bunny, Angel!"

"Angel?" Twilight walked up to the hopping white rabbit. "What are you doing out here all by yourself? Fluttershy will be worried sick about you."

Angel continued to wave his arms, trying to communicate with Twilight and the knights.

Yorkshire got up from the pile and walked to Angel.

Angel saw Yorkshire and hopped over to him. He waved his arms and then pointed to the path.

"What is it Angel?" he asked.

He raised his arms and began to stomp around and hiss.

Yorkshire looked at him with a confused look. He slowly turned his head to Twilight with the expression still showing. "Uh… Do you understand what he's trying to say…?"

"It takes a while for somepony to understand what Angel says through charades since he can't talk. I still can't understand him either." she replied. "Just try."

He sighed. "Okay." He turned to Angel still seeing him stomp around with his arms raised up and hissing. "So… you're being a monster?"

He stopped and nodded. He acted as if he was picking something up and carrying it off.

"You're a monster… picking up… a sack?"

He smacked himself with his paw. He looked beside him and saw a small rock. He pointed to the rock and then gave him a cute face, fluttering his eyelids and flapping his arms like wings.

"That rock is Fluttershy?"

He shook his head. He suddenly had a thought and then nodded, changing his answer.

"What does a rock have to do with Fluttershy?"

He growled a bit in frustration. He acted like a monster again and picked up the rock, placing it on his shoulder. He then carried it away a bit and then dropped it, ending his act.

"You acting like a monster… Fluttershy being the rock…" he thought loudly. He then let out a gasp. "Angel… are you telling me that a monster took Fluttershy away?!" he asked, slowly becoming filled with fear.

He nodded slowly with a sad look on his face and with his ears down.

"Fluttershy was taken away too?!" Twilight asked nervously. "Oh no!"

Angel nodded again.

Yorkshire quickly turned to her. "Twilight, do you suppose there might be a connection between these incidents? Do you think it was the same monster that took Princess Luna away?"

"It's a possibility." she replied. She looked to Angel. "Angel, did you see what the monster looked like?"

Angel nodded smiling. He took a twig and started to draw on the dirt road.

The other knights slowly got off of each other. They all gathered around looking at the drawing Angel was making. The drawing was done, and everypony saw that it was a stick figure with a long spikey tail, a snout with fangs, and it was holding a curved sword and shield.

"What is it?" Penarth asked.

"It looks like some kind of lizard…" Spike thought out loud. "A lizard warrior…?"

Suddenly all of the knights looked at each with the same shocked expression on their faces.

"It can't be…" Rhayader said quietly. "It's just not possible…"

Twilight looked at them. "What does this mean to you guys?"

Penarth looked to Knighton. "Please tell me we took care of them!" he said with worry. "Please tell me!"

"I know we did!" Knighton replied. "We took care of all of them! I saw it with my own eyes! I killed them with my own sword!"

"Took care of what?! What's going on?!" Twilight yelled.

"Twilight, remember that story I told you about us defeating that dark army?" Yorkshire asked her.

"Yes. I do remember." she replied.

"I think what Angel is trying to say that a lizard warrior from that dark army we defeated took away Fluttershy," He turned to Angel. "am I right Angel…?"

The bunny nodded.

"But… that's impossible…" she said shaken up. "You guys defeated the army. Every last one of them…"

"We thought so too… but somehow…" he gulped. "they've come back."

"What are we going to do…?"

"The only thing we can do." he replied, breathing heavily. "We've got to find the girls and stop those monsters."

She nodded slowly. "I'm gonna get the other girls and they'll come with us."

"Bad idea!" Tregaron intervened. "You don't know what you're gonna be dealing with! These creatures are vicious! I've actually seen one tear one of our knights in half with just their arms! I also saw another one biting off a knight's head off and eating it during battle!"

Spike suddenly hacked up with disgust. "Okay! Too much information!"

"I don't care what you say!" Twilight said, standing up to him. "Fluttershy's one of my best friends! Me and the others are coming along whether you like it or not!"

Tregaron looked to Knighton. "I don't think we have much choice with this girl…"

Knighton sighed and looked to her. "Alright. You and the girls can come with us. But be warned that there will be many dangers on this journey."

"Understood." she said with a smile.

He looked to his knights. "Go help gather Twilight's friends and inform them that Fluttershy has been ponynapped. Once you've gotten them, report to the entrance of Ponyville."

"Yes sir!" the knights replied. Four of the knights galloped away to get Twilight Sparkle's other friends.

"Please hurry!" Yorkshire shouted to them as they continued to gallop off.

"I really hope the girls will come with us on this dangerous mission." Spike said.

"Of course they will." Twilight replied. "From the times that one of us were in trouble, all of the others came together to help."

Knighton chuckled. "That's what we do too when it comes to one of us needing help."

A little while later at the town's entrance, Knighton, Yorkshire, Twilight, and Spike were waiting for the other knights and girls to meet up with them. As they waited, they heard quiet gallops. Soon they were growing louder, coming towards them.

"There they are!" Spike exclaimed, pointing towards the town square.

They all saw each knight bringing one of the girls with them to join the others: Rarity with Tregaron, Rainbow Dash with Penarth, Pinkie Pie with Llanfair, and Applejack with Rhayader. The girls each had their own bags of supplies to bring along with them on the journey. They quickly met up with the others who were waiting at the entrance of the town.

"Is it really true?" Applejack asked Twilight in little panic. "Fluttershy and Princess Luna really are ponynapped?"

Twilight sighed depressingly. "It's true."

"Who would do such a horrible thing…?" Rarity asked.

"We'll explain on the way." Yorkshire replied. "Right now, we need to find and rescue them."

"Do you ever have any idea where we're going?" Rainbow Dash asked raising an eyebrow.

"I brought a map of Equestria." Twilight replied. With her magic, she pulled out the map. "Knighton, which way do we go?" she asked him.

"Let me see." He examined the map. He placed his hoof on the mark that said "Ponyville". "Okay, so if we're here… we would have to…" he slid his hoof upwards and then to the left. "We'll have to go northwest from here into the mountains. When we pass through there, we will be entering the barren wastelands where we fought in our battle. There it will be a good place to start looking."

"Oh my…" she muttered in surprise. "You guys walked all the way here from that far? You must've been exhausted."

"We managed." He closed the map and slipped it back into her bag. "Unfortunately, this journey is going to take us days if we go on hoof. We need to find a faster way to get there."

"We could always use Twilight's teleportation spell to get us there!" Pinkie Pie implied.

"That's going to be difficult, I'm afraid…" Twilight replied. "I've never done teleportation with more than two ponies before. I don't know if it's going to work."

Rarity stepped up to Twilight. "Perhaps I could help, darling. I may use my magic mostly for designing clothes, but I have done teleportation once or twice in my youth. I'm just glad I can remember how."

"Maybe that will work then." Twilight said. "Everypony gather around and hold hooves."

Everyone gathered into a large circle, holding each other's hooves. Twilight and Rarity were on opposite sides of the circle. Signaling each other with nods, both unicorns focused. They closed their eyes tightly and felt their magic flowing through their bodies. Now their auras were surrounding everyone, involving them in the spell. In a blinding bright flash, they vanished from Ponyville, swiftly on their way to their destination.

. . .

"Fluttershy…" a gentle voice said. "Fluttershy… please wake up…"

Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes, looking up. When she did, she recognized the face of her awakener being Princess Luna.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked.

She slowly raised her head up and shook it a bit. "Princess Luna…?"

The princess nodded. "Yes, it's me. Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine." she replied. "I must've fainted from a panic attack…" She looked around and saw that they were in a place of rock, darkness and fire. She also noticed that she and Luna were trapped in a dome of blue light. "Where are we…?"

"I'm not sure." Luna replied. "You and I were taken by these lizard beasts."

Fluttershy gasped. "I remember… I was running away from two monsters back at home! But they caught me…"

"Three of them came into my room while I was sleeping. That was when I was captured." she said, explaining her side of the story. "They weakened my powers by covering my horn." She showed her horn, but it was uncovered.

"Can't you get us out of here?"

"I'm afraid I can't… I tried every spell I could think of to get out of this prison, but nothing worked. This magic is stronger than mine somehow…"

Fluttershy whimpered. "I'm scared…"

Luna moved closer to her. "I know you are… I am too."

"What are they planning to do with us…?"

"It's quite simple my pony…" a dark voice relied.

The girls looked around, trying to find where the voice came from. Luna stood up with and looked around in anger. "Who said that?!" she yelled. "Show yourself!"

They heard footsteps quietly approaching them. They saw an armored lizard in a dark cloak walking towards them.

"Wh-who are you…?" Fluttershy asked as she shook.

"I am Komodo." the lizard replied, hissing. "I am an enchanter of the dark arts. I am the creator of the dark army."

"The dark army?" Fluttershy asked. She suddenly realized what he meant. "You're the one responsible for the destruction on all of those innocent ponies!"

He grinned and chuckled. "Guilty as charged."

Luna huffed through her nose with a glare. "Release us right now!" she exclaimed.

"I can't do that." he said, refusing her order. "I'm the one in charge here."

"What do you want from us?!"

"It's not what I want from you. It's what I want from your fellow knights." he replied. "You're simply the bait."

"Bait…?" Fluttershy asked. "For what…?"

Komodo raised his arms, summoning a large glowing orb. He held it in his arms and showed it to Luna and Fluttershy.

The trapped mares looked into the orb and saw the knights and Fluttershy's friends appear in a flash of light on a mountain pass.

Fluttershy gasped. "Yorkshire! My friends!"

"As you can see, your friends are on their way here." Komodo explained. "They'll be coming save you. But that will never happen." He grinned and devilishly chuckled.

"What do you mean…?" Fluttershy asked, almost silently.

"Once they get here, I am going to slaughter them like pigs while you watch them drowning in their own blood!" He made the glowing orb vanish into thin air. "After that, my warriors will take care of you."

Luna growled at him with anger. "Why are you doing this?! What do you hope to accomplish, you lowlife scum?!"

Hearing her insulting words, he shoved his arm through the dome that seem to have no effect on it and grasped her by the neck and began to strangle her.

"I don't like that tone of yours, princess…" he growled. He squeezed her neck harder, making it more difficult for her to breathe. He watched her struggle, gasping for air. He raised his other hand and created a small shadow ball that hovered over his palm. "I could kill you right now…" He looked to Fluttershy as she watched them. He looked back to Luna and made the shadow ball in his other hand vanish. In a loud growl, he pushed Luna back, making her fall to the ground. "But that is not my intention yet."

Luna slowly sat up coughing and gasping loudly. She looked to Fluttershy who was starting to weep.

"Because of your knights, they wiped out my entire army along with the other thousands of knights who helped them! They destroyed my conquest to take over Equestria! But after they're gone, with my powers soon to be at maximum, I will create another with more destructive abilities!"

"So it's revenge you're after… and another attempt at conquest…" Luna said, still trying to breathe normally. "You'll never win, Komodo… Knighton and the others will stop you again… Just remember this… good will always triumph over evil…"

"Until today." he objected. "I shall enjoy seeing you squirm once we start killing your friends, and then you'll be next." He walked away, laughing maniacally.

Luna growled quietly. "That monster…" She tried to get up but fell limp.

Fluttershy moved closer to her side. "Princess, please relax! Just lie down and try to breathe, okay…?" She continued to weep.

She looked up to Fluttershy. "Please don't cry…" she whispered, beginning to breathe calmly again. "I know you're scared… I am too."

She sniffled. "What if he's right...? What if Komodo does win…?"

"Don't think negative thoughts." Luna replied. "Think only positive. I know Knighton and the others will save us. Believe in them, Fluttershy." She reached for her eyes and wiped her tears.

Fluttershy gave Luna a little smile of comfort. "I do believe in them…" she said. "I hope they kick Komodo's behind."

She giggled. "I hope they do too. All we can do now is wait."

Fluttershy looked up and imagined seeing the sky above them. "Yorkshire…" she thought. "please hurry…"


End file.
